Tour of
some Bastides:
South West France is full of
bastides – fortified villages/towns and the area around Condom is a good
starting point to visit a selection of these. Sitting in a car touring
quaint villages may not enthral the children but careful planning with
perhaps the promise of an ice-cream (or other treat) may keep everyone
happy, as we discovered on a recent trip.
Of all the bastides, perhaps
the most interesting is Larressingle to the west of Condom - the
smallest enclosed bastide in France. It is in fact a moated circular fort,
complete with towers and a keep and inside the walls are a selection of
shops selling local arts and crafts, as well as a small museum and a ‘crêperie’.
Outside the walls children may be interested in visiting the hands on
outdoor museum devoted to medieval weaponry.
Other bastides are Le Romieu
(NE of Condom), where local folklore remembers the ‘Cat Woman’. Get the
children to see how many cat statues they can find in the village. Also
worth visiting is Fourcès (12 km NW of Condom), and Lectoure, which could
be combined with a visit to the tannery at
Bleu de Lectoure. |
Lot-et-Garonne & Tarn
Attractions
- spread over a wide area and perhaps overshadowed
by its more famous neighbour (the Dordogne), however the region still has plenty
to interest you during your holiday, with enchanting
Château de Cassaigne