France's finest flavours: From camembert to crêpes
The revered terroir on the banks of the Gironde river outside Bordeaux is home to many of France's most renowned vineyards
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Your support makes all the difference.From the croissant to comté cheese, France has made so many unique contributions to gastronomy. Seek out these quintessential flavours from Saint-Malo to Marseillan and taste as you travel.
Brittany is the spiritual home of the crêpe and L'Atelier de la Crêpe (00 33 2 99 88 92 09; ateliercrepe.fr) in Saint-Malo has four-hour initiations for amateurs. Taking place on Saturday mornings, it costs €55 (£41) including lunch.
Creamy, pungent camembert cheese can only be produced in Pays d'Auge, Normandy. Several fromageries welcome visitors, including The Ferme du Champsecret (00 33 1 33 37 60; fermeduchampsecret.com). Open on Fridays throughout the summer at 4pm, entry €3 (£2.24).
The merveilleux is currently being touted as the new macaron. Its newfound popularity is in part due to the efforts of Frédéric Vaucamps, a pâtissiere who spent many years refining the original recipe and arrived at a confection made from meringue, cream and chocolate shavings. Merveilleux du Fred has just opened its first boutique in New York – but the best place to get your fix is at the latest Parisian outpost at 24 rue du Pont Louis Philippe (00 33 1 57 40 98 43; auxmerveilleux.com).
The sun-soaked southern town of Marseillan is the birthplace of one of France's most celebrated tipples, Noilly Prat. This dry vermouth contains grapes harvested from the surrounding vineyards plus more than 20 herbs and spices. You can learn all about it at the Maison Noilly Prat (00 33 4 67 77 20 15; noillyprat.com). Have a cocktail lesson afterwards then move on to a local bar to sample the town's other famous export, Bouzigues oysters. Tours of the Maison cost €45 (£34).
The city of Dijon in Burgundy is widely considered to be the mustard capital of the world. But to get a true taste of the stuff you need to travel a little further south to the picturesque town of Beaune. Here the Maison Fallot (00 33 80 22 10 02; fallot.com), established in 1840, claims to be the only remaining independent mustard mill producing authentic Dijon mustard using only Burgundy wine and mustard seeds grown in the region. Tours cost from €10pp (£7.50).
Finally, the revered terroir on the banks of the Gironde river outside Bordeaux is home to many of France's most renowned vineyards. Right on the Routes des Châteaux, the Château Cordeillan-Bages (00 33 5 56 59 24 24; jmcazes.com) is one of the few in the area that welcomes guests. Two nights' B&B, with wine tasting at the Chateau Lynch-Bages as well as dinner at its two Michelin star restaurant, cost from €629 (£470)for two.
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