Some further brief details of upcoming events – 2026
1.MILLAU & ROQUEFORT – (see the fuller detail below in the post of April 25th) The visit will take place over two days to include a guided tour of the cheese caves in Roquefort; the Templar stronghold of La Couvertoirade; and the Visitor Centre at the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn. Lunch will be arranged on both days. Members are welcome to attend some or all parts of this visit.
Confirmed dates: Friday 29 and Saturday 30 May 2026.
2. TOULOUSE – A visit to take place over two days. Current thinking is that day one day will start with lunch, followed by a visit to Aeroscopia, Blagnac. The second day will comprise visits to one or more of the several city attractions, to include: the Fondation Bemberg; the Basilica of Saint Sernin; the Capitol; and the Couvent de Jacobins. Members are welcome to attend some or all parts of this visit.
Confirmed dates: Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 June 2026.
3. PECHE MERLE CAVES in the Lot – to include a visit to the Peche Merle cave (known for its original prehistoric paintings) and its related Museum; a talk on prehistoric lithic manufacture; and lunch.
Confirmed date: Thursday 9 July 2026.
4. BORDEAUX – Visit to Bassin des Lumières (Matisse and/or Frida Kahlo) and lunch at the Cité du Vin.
Roquefort-sur-Soulzon and Millau, Friday 29 and Saturday 30 May 2026
Our third event of 2026 will be a two-day visit to the Aveyron, with lunch on both days; a guided tour of the cheese caves in Roquefort; and visits to both the Templar stronghold of La Couvertoirade and the Visitor Centre at the 2½km-long Millau Viaduct over the Tarn (completed 2004), product of a remarkable cooperation between British architect Norman Foster (now Lord Foster of Thames Bank) and French bridge engineer Michael Virlogeux.
Norman Foster is known to have had to take gruelling part time jobs to cover his university studies, including night shifts at a bakery making crumpets and driving an ice-cream van. Your committee proposes a more relaxed study with blue cheese.
Members are welcome to join us on either day or both.
Please let Nigel Griffin (nigelhgriffin@gmail.com) know not later than Friday 22 May if you intend to come and whether you wish to book for the Friday lunch in Roquefort (with visit of the caves); Saturday lunch in La Couvertoirade; and/or the Saturday afternoon visit to the Viaduct and its museum. You are, of course, welcome to come to all three, as are any guests you wish to bring.
There is on-site parking at Roquefort Société and we shall gather there at 12h30 on the Friday. Lunch has been booked for 12h45 at the restaurant La Cave des Saveurs (menu du jour € 25), on the same site as the caves for which we have a guided tour at 15h30. Further details of how to find Roquefort Société will be sent not later than 24 May to those indicating they will be joining us.
There are plenty of hotels and AirB&Bs in the mediaeval glove-making town of Millau at the confluence of the Tarn and the Dourbie. It is hoped that we may meet up informally on the Friday evening for an apéro and possibly a light supper.
On Saturday morning, we shall make our way from Millau to La Couvertoirade, some 45–50 minutes south. To save paying autoroute tolls in both directions, it might be best to travel south by the N991 via Tarn, a road with spectacular views. It may also be that those planning to return to/via Millau on the Saturday evening might agree to share cars and therefore the individual cost of the northbound A75 viaduct toll on our way back after lunch.
La Couvertoirade, with its original 12th-century fort, 15th-century ramparts, and a host of 16th and 17th-century houses, is categorized as ‘un des plus beaux villages de France’. We have a noon lunch reservation there at the Auberge du chat perché (€ 26) after which we shall head back north on the autoroute, crossing the viaduct and immediately taking the next exit, signed Aire du Viaduc de Millau. We have a booking for a tour starting at 15h30.
For those interested in staying longer in the area, the wonderful Gorges du Tarn are within easy reach, as are several villages typical of the Cévennes. The views from the N999 in the direction of Nîmes are spectacular.
What makes the event worthy of a quick note is that both Oxford and Cambridge mens’ boats will have french captains.
the main event training
The Dark Blues will be captained by Tobias Bernard, a Londoner born to a French father and a Franco-American mother. The Light Blues will have three-time defending champion, Noam Mouelle. Noam reportedly took his first strokes at the age of 9 at his local club in Le Perreux-sur-Marne outside Paris. He has represented France at world championships up to under-23 level.
The races this year will be on Saturday 4 April 2026 starting at 14h21 (Women) and 15h21 (Men).
In between these are the Women’s and Men’s reserve crew races at 14h31 and 14h51.
Channel 4 holds the broadcast rights. Full details of options to watch can be found at:
“Faire une fausse pelle” is the normal expression for “catch a crab”, but apparently “se prendre un crabe” is creeping into the language. Where will it end?
The second event of 2026 for the Oxford University Society South West France will be a visit to Pomerol and Saint-Émilion combining a visit to a wine barrel making factory, lunch and wine tasting, followed by time spent exploring the historic wine town of Saint-Émilion.
Saint-Émilion centre
Please note that the tonnellerie tour element of this event has limited numbers, so members are asked to book early to avoid disappointment. Please let Marion Tempé (moustemp@aol.com) know as soon as possible but certainly no later than Monday 13 April if you are coming and advise her of any dietary requirements.
Guests, as ever, are very welcome and this invitation is also being extended to Cambridge University alumni.
We will start with a guided tour of the Tonnellerie Sylvain, 23 route de Lyon (D1089), 33910 Saint-Denis-de-Pile. (www.tonnellerie-sylvain.fr/en/). The tour will start at 10h00, so we advise that you aim to arrive a few minutes beforehand.
We will be shown the whole process from end to end, from the harvested 200 year-old oaks piled up waiting to be transformed into barrels, all the way through to the individual branding of the finished barrels with the distinguishing marks of the destination vineyards and their readying for shipment world-wide. We will see the craftsmen at work, still using traditional methods, together with the application of technology to the manufacture at scale.
The family that own the tonnellerie also run château Rose Perrière, Lieu-dit La Perrière, 33570 Lussac (www.chateau-laroseperriere.com), a beautifully-restored small family place, selling wine at a reasonable price, in pleasant grounds with a lake for those who want to wander. The charge for the tonnellerie tour is €25 per head, payable on arrival. This charge includes a wine tasting at the château after lunch.
In between tour and tasting we will stop for lunch at “La Table de Catusseau”, 86 Rue de Catusseau, 33500 Pomerol (www.latabledecatusseau.fr). This restaurant provides a fixed menu du jour priced at €29 per head (again, when booking please advise Marion if you have dietary requirements). There is an extensive, though pricey (this is Pomerol!) wine list. The Committee has therefore decided to provide with lunch one glass of wine or one coffee per head from Society funds. As usual, those attending are asked please to settle their bill individually with the restaurant before departure.
After wine tasting, we will go to Saint-Émilion. This small but beautiful 7th century town is perhaps the only one of its kind in France, dedicated to oenotourisme, though today it is diversifying with several art galleries and a famous jazz festival in the summer. We recommend finding a place to park and then to explore on foot: there is an excellent tourist office. Take the suggestions over lunch of those who know the town (Mark, Greg and maybe others), but don’t miss the monolithic church
Travel
The tonnellerie is on the left side of the D1089 going north-east from Libourne, about a 15 minute drive from Libourne station. The guest car park is to your right in front of the main building, which has a small door into the reception. Libourne is on the main TGV line from Bordeaux St Jean to Paris. If you decide to come by train please let us know when you book: we will try to organise you a lift from and back to the station.
Our lunch restaurant is about a 10 minute drive back down the D1089, turning left into Pomerol then on into the hamlet of Catusseau.
The wine tasting is at the château in Lussac (Saint-Émilion), another 15 minutes or so by car from the restaurant: the route takes you past the famous (though remarkably low-key) Château Petrus: those sans a Platinum Amex card need not stop there.
Château Rose Perrière in turn is about 15 minutes from Saint-Émilion itself (which is 10 minutes from the restaurant for those skipping the château.) In Saint-Émilion the best places to park are usually found by approaching the town at the North end and from the roundabout on the D243 turning onto the Avenue de Verdun: there is parking on your left side close to the centre and the tourist office. We expect the town not to be too busy, but if we are wrong there is a hack the locals use: continue east on the D243 from aforesaid roundabout and turn right onto the Chemin des Fossées: park up there and walk into town through the Porte Brunet.
We suggest you put the full addresses into your satnav.
We are happy for members and guests to take in the full itinerary as above, or to skip the Tonnellerie and Château and just come for lunch and company in Saint-Émilion, as we know one or two people who are coming have been before and places on the Tonnellerie tour are limited. Saint-Émilion has innumerable opportunities for wine tasting.
On the other hand, if you are coming from afar or want to make sure you explore more fully, there are many excellent places to stay overnight in Saint-Émilion. (The château La Rose-Perrière also offers some accommodation.)
We are looking forward to another successful event and hope many of you can join us.
The weekend of 20th March saw members and friends besieging – or rather hiking round – the Cité of Carcassonne on a trail enhanced by the historical knowledge of our guide, Cambridge alumnus Peter Elliot. The restaurant Adélaïde lifted our hunger very satisfactorily, such that the Dame Carcas might have sounded the bells.
The previous day, after a rowdy bar group in our Limoux lunch venue had been silenced, Peter finished elaborating the fascinating history of the stolen art treasures of the Galeries Lafayette family and other entrepreneurial Jewish families in France. The paintings stolen included fine impressionist, expressionist and fauvist works, regarded by the Nazis (with the possible exception of Göring) as degenerate but nonetheless registered in typical bureaucratic detail. Their recovery is still however not totally complete. Peter’s book ‘Looted’ covers the history of these thefts in detail -see link below.
A visit to the cave of Family Antech in Limoux enabled us to sample and purchase the unique and bubbly wines of the area.
All in all, another enlightening and convivial weekend – for which we thank Greg for his fine organisation and Peter for his lucid and entertaining presentations.
Our first event of 2026 will be a two day visit to the Aude Department combining a lunch, art history talk and wine tasting in Limoux with an exploration of the UNESCO World Heritage site – the Cité de Carcassonne.
Please note that this event is just two weeks away: apologies for the short notice. Members are welcome to join us on either or both of the two days and could make a full weekend of it by staying in the region on the Sunday. Please confirm to Greg Hawes (hawesgv@hotmail.com or 07 86 37 78 71) by Saturday 14 March if you are coming and if you wish to book for the Friday lunch, wine tasting, Saturday lunch – or all three. Guests, as ever, are very welcome.
Over the Aude
Limoux is the region where the delicious blanquette de Limoux sparkling white wine is made. If you don’t know the difference between blanquette and crémant this is the perfect opportunity to discover it.
We will start with lunch on Friday 20 March at the Grand Café in the centre of Limoux, (25 Place de le République, 11300 Limoux). It serves a wide choice including an excellent ménu du jour at €20. Please meet there from 12h00 for lunch at 12h30. (See https://www.legrandcafelimoux.fr/ for more detail)
Peter Elliott, a Cambridge alumnus living in the Aude who has joined our events in the past, has kindly offered to give an illustrated talk to us after lunch about the Jewish families who founded Galeries Lafayette and the fate of their art collections under Nazi occupation in WWII.
After lunch we will make the short trip (2.3 km) to the caveau of Maison Antech at 9 Rue Dewoitine 11300 Limoux for our tasting at 15:30. In the words of our hosts “la dégustation est offerte, et ce sera un plaisir de vous faire découvrir notre gamme dans un cadre convivial”.
Limoux is an historic town on the Aude river about 30 Km south of Carcassonne. Limoux is signposted from the A61, which bypasses Carcassonne. Limoux and Carcassonne are both also reachable by train, Carcassonne itself being a stop on the Toulouse – Montpellier main line with Limoux 30 minutes by train from Carcassonne.
Friday evening can be spent however you choose. There are hotels in Limoux and many more in Carcassonne, which also has cheaper options a short trip from the Cité including two Ibis hotels. We suggest you try La Demeure de la Cité by Jean Bacou, which is a self service style hotel, reasonably priced (try booking through Agoda) including breakfast.
On Saturday Peter Elliott (who also has a keen interest in the history of Carcassonne) will also act as our guide to the Cité and fill us in on the history of Carcassonne. Meet at the main gate at the entrance to the Cité itself at 10h30 please. There is a large car park below the main entrance and the Cité signposts will lead you to it.
Peter’s tour will be a walking one and will end with lunch around 12h15 at Restaurant Adelaide. It will deliberately not take in the Ramparts and the Chateau de Comtal, both of which involve some climbing and descending stairs. For those able to explore them it is intended that we make use, after lunch, of the excellent tourist office tour with audio guide in English which costs €13 per person (maybe less with group discount).
I write on behalf of the Committee of the Oxford University Society in Southwest France.
The Committee are hard at work planning a programme of events for this year. We are doing our very best, mindful of our expansive catchment area (incorporating both Nouvelle Aquitaine and Occitanie), to ensure a good geographical distribution of visits and activity.
In the draft programme below, we have prioritised giving as much notice as possible, in the hope of eliciting early interest and feedback, rather than providing great detail at this point. We aim to provide more detail closer to each event (particularly as regards the first two):
the committee hard at work……..
CATHAR COUNTRY – A 2-day weekend visit. Potentially to start with a Saturday lunch and a wine tasting at an independent wine centre in Limoux. The other day (Friday or Sunday?) to include a visit of Carcassonne Cité (walking tour and/or Petit Train), possible visit to a nearby Cathar castle, lunch and/or dinner. There will be flexibility for members to attend some or all of this. Probable timing: 2nd half of March 2026.
GIRONDE BARREL MAKER – Visit to the Sylvain Tonnellerie (Pomerol) at 09.45 for 10.00, followed by lunch, followed by a wine tasting at Chateau La Rose Perrière at 14.00. Confirmed for: 23 April 2026.
TOULOUSE – A 2-day weekend or mid-week visit. Current thinking is that one day could involve a visit to Aeroscopia (10.00am), followed by lunch, possibly with an Airbus 321 tour in the afternoon (14.30). The second day could include (some of) the following: Visit to Fondation Bemberg, Saint Sernin, the Capitol, and Couvent de Jacobins. There will be flexibility for members to attend some or all of this. Probable timing: May or early June 2026.
DORDOGNE or LOT PREHISTORY – Possibilities include either a visit centred around Les Eyzies (Musée National de Préhistoire and nearby cave/prehistoric art) or around Pech Merle (The cave paintings, possibly supplemented by visits to St-Cirq-Lapopie or the Gouffre de Padirac), accompanied by lunch. Probable timing: Late June or July 2026.
BORDEAUX – Visit to Bassin des Lumières, followed by lunch. Possible timings during July – September 2026.
ROQUEFORT & MILLAU – Visit to the Roquefort Caves d’affinages, followed by lunch, and then a guided tour of the Viaduc de Millau. Possible timings during: September – October 2026.
It would be helpful to receive any expressions of interest, or comments, in the coming couple of weeks (before our next Committee Meeting). Those of you who are not currently members, are most welcome to attend; current annual membership is €10 and payable at the first event you attend. Any ticket and lunch costs are paid on the day ‘at cost’ by each attendee. Where relevant, hotel arrangements/bookings will be made by each member (although we will try to provide some suggestions). You are most welcome to bring guests by prior arrangement.
We look forward very much to seeing you at one or more of these events!
The now traditional English book sale in Monteton (Lot-et-Garonne) will be on October 11th/12th. This is a very well-established event, with hundreds of books, CD’s etc., also with good coffee and English cakes to restore the energy of tired browsers. For those who don’t know the picturesque hill-top village, this would be a good reason to go.
All books at 1€, and proceeds to charity.
A similar event for French books will be held on 25th/26th October, with the added attraction of the sale of second-hand jewellery.
Books 1€, jewellery 2€.
There is a restaurant in the village, and plenty of possibilities in the area.
Information at the Mairie de Monteton : 05 53 20 20 08
Restaurant Château des Verdots, 24560 Conne-de-Labarde *
A message is being sent to all members. The AGM will be followed by a lunch to which guests are welcome. The price of the three-course lunch, payable on the day and including wine and coffee, is €39. Guests will be able to enjoy a wine tasting while members are in the meeting.
Members: please can you let us know by replying to the email also naming any guest(s) and dietary requirements, not later than Thursday 2 October.
Here are two events which might interest members :
1. Sunday 14th September, at 17h30, Château de Duras, a Chopin concert “Chopin, l’âme slave du piano” concert with the Symphonistes d’Aquitaine and soloist Alexey Chernov. On-line reservation possible at helloasso.com/associations/duras-association-du-chateau/evenements/les-ducales
2. A fantastic exhibition at Nérac in the former sous-préfecture (a grand building) “Art d’Asie et les influences sur l’Occident”. really interesting and beautiful exhibits, well presented. Open until 26th September (longer than first stated). Tuesday – Friday 14h – 19h, Saturday and Sunday 10h – 19h. Entrance 10€. Address : 2 Avenue du Maréchal Foch, easy parking. While in Nérac, don’t miss a visit to the château. Great fun. Among the exhibits there I was taken with the medieval beauty treatments described. While, at a pinch, I suppose I could try sleeping with raw veal escalopes covering my face, the one which requires marrow from the bones in a wolf’s paw is a bit more tricky.
Norman Foster is known to have had to take gruelling part time jobs to cover his university studies, including night shifts at a bakery making crumpets and driving an ice-cream van. Your committee proposes a more relaxed study with blue cheese.
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