Travel guide Lot-Et-Garonne

These new towns, characteristic of the Middle Ages, are 42 in number and are scattered throughout the Lot-et-Garonne region. With their unique architecture and their square organization, they are today the stronghold of the gentle way of life in the South-West, but also of a certain idea of conviviality which is expressed by markets in the heart of the city.

Never in the trend, always in the right direction, this is how one could describe the relationship between Lot-et-Garonne and organic farming, which was established in the 1960s and has continued to be emulated. As the first department of New Aquitaine in terms of cultivated surface, Lot-et-Garonne is a precursor.

This is perhaps what best symbolises Lot-et-Garonne as a land of passage and of commercial and political issues. The Canal des Deux-Mers crosses the department from Meilhan-sur-Garonne to Saint-Jean-de-Thurac and bridges the gap between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Today, it is a paradise for barges and cyclists.

They are numerous and express, depending on whether you are in Bonaguil or Nérac, a specific period when they had their golden age. Logically, they symbolize the family histories and the defense issues that were at stake during these different periods. More or less destroyed, they are largely restored and must be visited.

A winter fruit, the kiwi unfolds its green colours in the vines of its tree, the actinidia, from December to April. The Lot-et-Garonne is the leading French producer, thanks in particular to the ideal conditions of its land near the Lot and the Garonne. Established since the 1970s, the kiwi also sees life in yellow.

With Cancon as its French capital, the hazelnut finds all the conditions to blossom in the magnificent landscapes of the Haute Agenais. Hazelnut is a particularly healthy nut, especially when it is made into oil. It can be enjoyed on its own or as a spread. A visit to the Maison de la Noisette in Lacépède or Unicoque in Cancon is a must.

This historic 539-metre long arch bridge was initially built in the axis of the Canal du Midi to cross over the Garonne. Its history reveals the commercial stakes that it raised and which explain its construction. Today, it is a paradise for Sunday strolls and runners and is listed as a Historic Monument.

The emblem of the department par excellence, the one that makes the prefecture shine beyond the borders and that expresses itself by its taste and its nutritional qualities. Multi-secular know-how, it is the pride of a local gastronomy with its so particular methods of drying of the plum of ente which confers its organoleptic qualities.

The sport is king in Agen, where the SUA is the talk of the prefecture beyond the limits of the territory. It is a sport that brings people together every Sunday in many of the villages of the Lot-et-Garonne and where each club is the talk of the town during the rest of the week. If the South-West is the region of rugby, the Lot-et-Garonne is its heart.

Another gastronomic pride of the Lot-et-Garonne and which is expressed in multiple varieties and multiple colors. Green zebra, beef heart, cherry tomato... are all grown in the fields of the region of Marmande, its capital. Symbols of the summer tables, they differ between them by their taste, their juiciness and their shape.

The valleys shape the department by following the rivers that flow through it. The valley of the Garonne from Marmande to Agen is located in the heart of the territory. The Lot valley as a right tributary of the Garonne concerns the region from Villeneuve-sur-Lot to Fumel. More modestly, the Baïse, a left-hand tributary of the Garonne River, is located in the Néracais.

The Lot-et-Garonne has the largest variety of fruit grown in France. As such, the locals call their territory the orchard of France. Popular fruits such as strawberries, melons, but also kiwis are grown here, as well as nuts such as the famous hazelnut and its French capital, Cancon.