Southwest France Travel Guide

An Insider Tip.

Two large regions occupy this area: Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées. They combine very diverse areas, though all cosseted by the southern sun and mild climate; beautiful Périgord, the hills of the Gascogne that are reminiscent of Tuscany, the heights of Béarn around Pau that lead up to the Pyrenees. The Bordelais, the wine region around Bordeaux, the Atlantic coast between the Gironde estuary and the Spanish coast and green Périgord-Dordogne are also influenced by the southern climate and lifestyle. Though not very well known, the Southwest and the South have all the amenities a holiday destination requires, and neither the river landscape of the Dordogne with its castles, grottos and pilgrimage destinations nor the bathing resorts along the southern Atlantic coast can be called an insider tip. There are still some undiscovered regions such as Périgord pourpre, purple Périgord, with its bastions and castles, Quercy’s tiny fortified towns on chalk plateaus or the Basque country with its traditional peoples. Until the 14th century, the Occitania area, the South, was culturally and politically independent. After cruel religious wars and the defeat of the Cathars it went to the French Crown. But to this day the peoples of the Midi vehemently defend their cultural singularity.

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