Page 190 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

188  FR ANCE AND THE L OW C OUNTRIES

Southwest France the caves and their astounding
Palaeolithic paintings in 1940,
The southwest is farming France, a green and peaceful land and the importance of their
where crops from sunflowers to walnuts thrive. Other key discovery was swiftly recognized.
country products include forest timber, Bordeaux wines, Lascaux has been closed to
and wild mushrooms. Major modern industries, including the public since 1963 because
of deterioration due to carbon
aerospace, are focused on the two chief cities, Bordeaux and dioxide caused by breathing. An
Toulouse. Visitors are mainly drawn to the wine chateaux, the exact copy, Lascaux II, has been
ski slopes of the Pyrenees, and the prehistoric caves of the created a few minutes’ walk
Dordogne. The major sights of this favored region include down the hillside, using the
some of France’s most celebrated Romanesque buildings. same materials. The replica is
beautiful and should not be
spurned: high-antlered elk,
(1793–5). Buildings of architectural bison, and plump horses cover
interest include the massive the walls, moving in herds or
Basilique St-Michel, begun in files, surrounded by arrows and
1350, which took 200 years to geometric symbols thought to
complete, and the 18th-century have had ritual significance.
Grand Théâtre, a magnificent
example of the French Neo-
classical style. The Musée des h Toulouse
Beaux Arts holds an excellent Haute-Garonne. * 390,000. k £
collection of paintings, ranging @ n Donjon du Capitole (08-92 18
from the Renaissance to our time. 01 80). ( Tue–Sun. _ Piano (Sep),
Contemporary dance (end Jan–early
E Musée des Beaux Arts Feb). ∑ toulouse-tourisme.com
20 Cours d’Albret. Tel 05-56 10 20 56.
Open Wed–Mon. Closed public hols. Toulouse, the most important
& town in southwest France, is
the country’s fourth-largest
Environs metropolis, and a major
The tourist office in Bordeaux industrial and university city.
organizes tours to various wine The area is also famous for its
châteaux (see pp186–7). aerospace industry; Concorde,
Monument aux Girondins, Place des Airbus, and the Ariane space
Quinconces, Bordeaux rocket all originated here. Airbus
g Lascaux tours can be booked at www.
f Bordeaux taxiway.fr. Cité de l’Espace has
Montignac. Tel 05-53 51 95 03. Open
Gironde. * 220,000. k £ @ mid-Feb–Mar & Nov–Dec: Tue–Sun; a plan etarium and interactive
n 12 Cours du 30 Juillet (05-56 00 Easter–Oct: daily. Closed Jan–mid- exhi bits on space exploration.
66 00). ( daily. _ Fête du Vin Feb, Dec 25. & 8 ∑ semitour.com The church known as Les
(Jun, in even-numbered years). Jacobins was begun in 1229 and
∑ bordeaux-tourisme.com Lascaux is the most famous took more over two centuries to
of the prehistoric sites in the finish. The Gothic masterpiece
Built on a curve of the Garonne Dordogne region. Four young features a soaring, 22-branched
River, Bordeaux has been a boys and their dog came across palm tree vault in the apse. The
major port since pre-Roman
times and a focus and crossroads
of European trade for centuries.
The export of wine has always
been the basis of the city’s pros-
perity, and today the Bordeaux
region produces more than 70
million cases of wine per year.
Along the waterfront, a long
sweep of Classical facades is
broken by the Esplanade des
Quinconces, with its statues and
fountains. At one end, the Monu-
ment aux Girondins (1804–1902)
commemorates the Girondists
sent to the guillotine by
Robespierre during the Terror Palm vaulting in the apse of Les Jacobins, Toulouse
For hotels and restaurants see pp206–8 and pp209–11

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