Lot Blog 5

Apparently France, ever mostly sensible where transport is concerned, is re-opening new branch lines in the Champagne region and SNCF congratulates itself on an ecological trend spreading over the country from Provence to Paris, according to Lizzy Davis in The Guardian.

Curious then that the Lot seems to be bucking this trend with the diminution of trains halting at Gourdon and Souillac, and, out of the département, at Caussade. The worry is that this may be a precursor to shutting the stations altogether. It beggars belief that SNCF should promote such an inconsistent policy and in one of the few areas of France where no TGV line exists.

Apart from the inconvenience to locals, this decision will impact on the local economy too, in an area heavily dependent on tourism. Once again the Lot loses out to the big guns.

Travel from the UK is made infinitely more difficult by this decision (see Blog1 where I describe that to reach Gourdon on a through train in time for dinner now necessitates getting up at 4am if one lives in London, or staying overnight in a hotel if one doesn't). To protest against this bureaucratic short-sightedness please sign the petition on the Batail du Rail site.


Meanwhile, another Guardian article reports on the increasing popularity in France of the dreaded binge-drinking among the young. For months now us Brits have been advised by British newspapers to look to France for information on how to drink properly. I was always a tad puzzled by this advice as for years France topped the alcoholism statistics and, although consumption has much declined in recent years, it still ranks second after Luxembourg in Forbes figures of heaviest drinking European nations, consuming 14.2 lites of pure alcohol per capita.

The OECD Health at Glance paper published in 2007, covering world alcohol consumption in litres per capita put France on 13 litres per capita (based on 2004 figures and ranking 4th in the world after Hungary, Ireland and Luxembourg) as against the UK's 11.3, ranking 9th in the world. Luxembourg outdrinks everyone at 15.5 litres and Turkey brings up the rear on 1.3 litres.

At parties I attend in the south-west I frequently witness the seriously drunk, something I see less often in the UK in my own age group. And whilst the newish drink-driving laws have had an undoubted effect, I notice that many people rarely seem to take wine into the equation, cutting down, rather, on the digestifs, though less often on the aperitifs. Lifts home seem to follow circuitous routes to avoid the police! In France's horrific road accident rate, alcohol was the most important consideration in 30% of cases. In twenty years that has not changed. In the UK over the same period it has halved. Indeed the French drink and drive more than any other nation in Europe.

1998 stats show 144 accidents per million inhabitants in France, as against 58 British. No doubt they are down since then but, binge drinking apart, we clearly need not look to France as a means of solving our problems. In 2007, 4,615 people died on French roads and alcohol was the main reason why - 1,241 died as a result. In the UK, with the same population but less space and busier roads, 2946 died in the UK, 460 from drink driving.


So let's turn to a pleasanter part of the demon drink. Mike Reynolds, who co-runs Taste of the Grape, a marvellous and relatively new company that specialises in wine tastings, courses and tours, writes to me as follows:-

'A Cahors winemaker I can very much recommend is Château du Cèdre - they make a range:

'If you don't want a Cahors big gun, then the Heritage du Cèdre is the one - the heart is black, but the flesh is youthful. Malbec softened by Merlot with some lip-smacking acidity. Magret de canard beckons.

'Then move up to the Cuvée Prestige - black fruit, smoked fig and liquorice, low yields and old vines, Malbec with smidgeons of Merlot and Tannat.

'Progress to "Le Cèdre" from the oldest vines on the estate - perfumed, plum-pruney, 100% Malbec, almost impenetrably dark, and aromas of cassis and wild raspberry. You could almost eat it with a spoon.

'And to top it all, "Le Grand Cèdre" - a limited edition thoroughbred, a black beauty among Cahors, strikingly soft, lush and richly fruited. You know what to eat with them.... Cabécou, Rocamadour, grilled meats, cassoulet...'