INTRODUCING A FAMILY APARTMENT IN THE FRENCH PYRENEES
	HARRSICA, LE BOIS DE MARIE, BARÈGES....

	......CUISINE Cheese Eating Out Supermarkets Wine One of the greatest pleasures of holidaying in France is to sample the local culinary specialities, whether at home or in a local restaurant.
	......CHEESE
		Tourmalet is a cylindrically-shaped sheep's milk cheese from the Laruns Valley in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is the farmhouse version of Petit Basque, a well-known Basque style cheese. Hard, smooth, and chewy, a cheese that has tremendous keeping qualities, Tourmalet has a distinctive, nutty flavour and meaty finish. Made from the raw milk of sheep grazing on wild grasses, herbs, and plants, Tourmalet will change your perspective on Pyrenees cheeses. This cheese pairs wonderfully with Madiran (the local red), Viogner wines, as well as those wines made with Sauvignon Blanc.
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	......EATING OUT Literally, right on our doorstep is the very friendly Hotel Du Tourmalet (3*). A completely renovated Napoleonic building, which combines traditional values of hospitality with modern facilities including a first class restaurant and café-bar. Further details are available at www.hoteldutourmalet.com Also try the Isba at the top of the street in Barèges, which serves good home-cooked food and is very friendly. The ‘La Rozell’ restaurant in the village is a tiny shoebox-like place but serves amazing food. Closer to the resort is the 'Couquelle' restaurant for rustic local dishes, or 'Chez Louisette' - the original piste restaurant for brilliant mountain food in the daytime and evenings.
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	......SUPERMARKETS
	Whilst markets are a treat to visit, we all need to supermarket shop for our essentials and there are several good options locally. Just a five minute walk from Harrsica on Barèges high street. Also close to the supermarket is the local baker for fabulous fresh bread, pastries and cakes – ideal for breakfast. Further down the high street is the town’s butcher who will even roast a chicken for you to order. For an even wider choice, and our favourite store, Carrefour in Luz St Sauveur is easily reached in less than 15 minutes drive.
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	......WINE There are not many people who will come to France without sampling the local wine. While this area is not one that immediately springs to mind as a wine producing area, even in the foot hills of the Pyrenees you can find a local vintage to while away some time on the terrace or accompany a meal with friends and family. For white wine, Jurançon must be the favourite, while Madiran produces nothing but a robust red which even you doctor may agree is well worth trying! JURANCON Jurançon, south of Pau, is produced in an area of 750 ha around 25 villages including Monein, Gan and Jurançon itself. The area produces over 4.5 million bottles a year, 75% of which is dry white. Grapes used are Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, Courbu, Camaralet de Lasseube, and Lauzet grapes. Jurançon acquired its celebrity while being used for the baptism of King Henri IV. The vines grow on steep slopes such as in Hermitage, undergoing both oceanic and mountainous climates. The vine growers use traditional grapes such as Lauzet, Petit and Grand Mansengs and Courbu. Sweet Jurançon is a golden wine with exotic fruits and honey aromas. It can age for a very long time. Dry Jurançon has a colour drawing towards clear green. The blanc de blanc (white from white) is a fresh and aromatic dry wine. Dry Jurançon accounts for 75 % of the total wine production in Jurançon. MADIRAN The vineyard is located in the middle of 3 departements: the Gers, Pyrenées-Atlantiques and the Hautes Pyrenées, north of Tarbes. The area had been producing wine for many centuries before the Benedictine monks in the 11th Century, from their base in the 'Abbey of Madiran' lent their skills towards improving the quality of the wine. At the end of the 19th Century phylloxéra obliterated the wine, but then in the middle of the 20th Century a spectacular revival began that saw the vines grow from about 40 hectares to 1500 hectares. Madiran gained its 'Appellation d'origine controllée' in 1948. Madiran is a robust, intensely coloured red wine, whilst Pacherenc du Vic Bilh is a sweet white dessert wine or an aromatic dry white. Madiran in particular, can be of variable quality but we work with Chateau de Fitère in the north of the area, which produces consistently good wine.
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