French Property News – August 2019

http://www.completefrance.com

We love this characterful facade, captured by

Ashley Mills

on a holiday in the Célé valley in Lot

Send your picsWe love seeing your photos of France. If you

would like to share them with us, then email: [email protected] or

post to: Ruth Wood, FPN, Cumberland House, Oriel Road, Cheltenham GL50

1BB. Or share on @FrenchPropertyNews

or facebook.com/frenchpropertynewsmagazine

JOIE DE VIVRE

2+%

PHOTOS

David Walden

and his wife Maureen

love watching the

poppies growing

alongside the ripening

corn on the Ile de Ré

every summer

Michael Armstrong took this photo of a granite

cross with St-Malo in the background a few days

before the 75th anniversary of D-Day

©Sashsmir – iStock / Getty Images Plus

What to drink...

Each month, we take a look at a different French

grape variety. This month, gros manseng!

What should I know about the manseng family?
Gros manseng is a white grape; there is also a petit manseng, a much
smaller white variety, and also manseng noir, a red grape. As well as being
bigger, gros manseng is also less susceptible to grape-killing fungal disease
‘coulure’ than its counterparts.

Where is it grown?
Gros manseng is synonymous with south-west France,
particularly the Jurançon and Béarn regions.

What kind of wines does it produce?
It makes dry whites, much less rich than
those made with its petit counterpart.
The wines are, however, intensely
flavoured, and you’ll pick up
notes of apricot and quince. It
works particularly well when
paired with foie gras.

I’m in the mood for dancing,
gros manseng...
Try Les Mougeottes Sauvignon Blanc
Colombard Gros Manseng, a perfect
summer wine with tropical notes.

STR

PHOTO

See this photo

and more on our

Instagram account –

@FrenchPropertyNews

FRENCH ICON

Discover some of France’s most fascinating icons

POCKETKNIVES
Forget Switzerland and its army knives; this side of the border, France is at
the cutting edge of the industry. Its pocket knives are an essential part of
daily life for rural dwellers, used for everything from slicing saucisson at a
picnic to cutting down low-hanging branches on a footpath.
The knives themselves date back to the Iron Ages, but they became
particularly popular in France during the reign of the Sun King and ultimate
royal trendsetter, Louis XIV, when they would appear on the royal dining
table. They became even more prevalent when pockets were added to
men’s clothes that were suitable for carrying them.
The 19th century saw the birth of two of France’s premier pocket
knife-making companies: Opinel and Laguiole. The former was started by
Joseph Opinel, from a family of blacksmiths, after he created a knife to be
used for local farmers in 1890. As the business grew, Joseph set up a factory
near St-Jean-de-Maurienne in Savoie in 1909, eventually moving the factory
there in the 1920s. Traditionally, Opinels had a beechwood handle, but
other varieties include walnut, rosewood and cow horn.
Laguiole was also developed for farmers, but in a different area; on the
Aubrac plateau in the Massif Central. Its inventor was Jean-Pierre Calmels,
who was said to have been just 16 at the time of its creation. A guest at his
parents’ auberge produced an Arabic-Hispanic folding penknife called a
navaja, and Jean-Pierre vowed to do one better. In 1829, he made his first
Laguiole, named after the village
in Aveyron where he lived.
Nowadays, however, the knives
are made in the town of Thiers in
Puy-de-Dôme. Film star Fanny
Ardant is rumoured to be a big
fan of the knife and is said to
always carry one in her handbag.
In her honour, the brand made a
special edition of the knife called,
fittingly, the ‘Ardent’. © vzwer – iStock / Getty Images Plus

WIN!

This

month’s

star

photographer

wins a bottle of

Domaine de

Marcé

Touraine

Sauvignon, 2017

(AmandasWines.

co.uk)