1.
Loire
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The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of 1,012 kilometres, it drains an area of 117,054 km2, or more than a fifth of Frances land area, and is the 171st longest river in the world. Its main tributaries include the rivers Nièvre, Maine and the Erdre on its bank, and the rivers Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne. The Loire gives its name to six departments, Loire, Haute-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, the central part of the Loire Valley, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region, was added to the World Heritage Sites list of UNESCO on December 2,2000. Vineyards and chateaux are found along the banks of the river throughout this area, gallic rule ended in the valley in 56 BC when Julius Caesar conquered the adjacent provinces for Rome. Christianity was introduced into this valley from the 3rd century AD, as missionaries, in this period, settlers established vineyards and began producing wines. They were originally created as feudal strongholds, over centuries past, the name Loire comes from Latin Liger, which is itself a transcription of the native Gaulish name of the river. The Gaulish name comes from the Gaulish word liga, which means silt, sediment, deposit, alluvium, a word that gave French lie, as in sur lie, which in turn gave English lees. Liga comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *legʰ-, meaning to lie, lay as in the Welsh word Lleyg which gave many words in English, such as to lie, to lay, ledge, law, etc. At a certain point during the history of uplift in the Paris Basin. The former bed of the Loire séquanaise is occupied by the Loing, the Loire Valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period from 40–90 ka. Neanderthal man used stone tools to fashion boats out of tree trunks, modern man inhabited the Loire valley around 30 ka. By around 5000 to 4000 BC, they began clearing forests along the edges and cultivating the lands. They built megaliths to worship the dead, especially from around 3500 BC, the Gauls arrived in the valley between 1500 and 500 BC, and the Carnutes settled in Cenabum in what is now Orléans and built a bridge over the river. By 600 BC the Loire had already become an important trading route between the Celts and the Greeks. A key transportation route, it served as one of the highways of France for over 2000 years. The Phoenicians and Greeks had used pack horses to transport goods from Lyon to the Loire to get from the Mediterranean basin to the Atlantic coast, during the Roman period, they successfully subdued the Gauls in 52 BC and began developing Cenabum, which they named Aurelianis. They also began building the city of Caesarodunum, now Tours, the Romans used the Loire as far as Roanne, around 150 km downriver from the source
2.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
3.
Vineyard
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A vineyard /ˈvɪnjərd/ is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of production is known as viticulture. The earliest evidence of production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it wasnt until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe. In medieval Europe the Church was a supporter of wine. They owned and tended the best vineyards in Europe and vinum theologium was considered superior to all others, European vineyards were planted with a wide variety of the Vitis vinifera grape. However, in the late 19th century, the species was nearly destroyed by the plant louse phylloxera accidentally introduced to Europe from North America. Native American grapevines include varieties such as Vitis labrusca, which is resistant to the bug, the quest for vineyard efficiency has produced a bewildering range of systems and techniques in recent years. Due to the much more fertile New World growing conditions. Innovation in palissage and pruning and thinning methods have replaced more general, traditional concepts like yield per unit area in favor of maximizing yield of desired quality. Many of these new techniques have since adopted in place of traditional practice in the more progressive of the so-called Old World vineyards. Other recent practices include spraying water on vines to protect them from sub-zero temperatures, new grafting techniques, soil slotting, such techniques have made possible the development of wine industries in New World countries such as Canada. Today there is increasing interest in developing organic, ecologically sensitive, biodynamics has become increasingly popular in viticulture. The use of irrigation in recent years has expanded vineyards into areas which were previously unplantable. The research includes developing improved grape varieties and investigating pest control, the International Grape Genome Program is a multi-national effort to discover a genetic means to improving quality, increasing yield and providing a natural resistance to pests. The implementation of mechanical harvesting is often stimulated by changes in laws, labor shortages. It can be expensive to hire labor for periods of time. Numbers of New World vineyard plantings have been increasing almost as fast as European vineyards are being uprooted, the size of individual vineyards in the New World is significant
4.
Cherry
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A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy drupe. The cherry fruits of commerce usually are obtained from a number of species such as cultivars of the sweet cherry. The name cherry also refers to the tree, and is sometimes applied to almonds and visually similar flowering trees in the genus Prunus, as in ornamental cherry, cherry blossom. Wild cherry may refer to any of the species growing outside of cultivation. The subgenus is native to the regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Other cherry fruits are members of subgenus Padus, most eating cherries are derived from either Prunus avium, the sweet cherry, or from Prunus cerasus, the sour cherry. The indigenous range of the sweet cherry extends through most of Europe, western Asia, and parts of northern Africa, and the fruit has been consumed throughout its range since prehistoric times. A cultivated cherry is recorded as having brought to Rome by Lucius Licinius Lucullus from northeastern Anatolia, also known as the Pontus region. Cherries were introduced into England at Teynham, near Sittingbourne in Kent, by order of Henry VIII, cherries arrived in North America early in the settlement of Brooklyn, New York when the region was under Dutch sovereignty. Trades people leased or purchased land to plant orchards and produce gardens, behind the house sold by Anthony Jansen from Salee to Barent Dirksen. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia, they do not cross-pollinate, some other species, although having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except in northern regions where the two main species will not grow. Irrigation, spraying, labor, and their propensity to damage from rain, nonetheless, demand is high for the fruit. In commercial production, cherries are harvested by using a mechanized shaker, hand picking is also widely used to harvest the fruit to avoid damage to both fruit and trees. Common rootstocks include Mazzard, Mahaleb, Colt, and Gisela Series, sour cherries require no pollenizer, while few sweet varieties are self-fertile. Like most temperate-latitude trees, cherry seeds require exposure to cold to germinate, the pits are planted in the autumn and seedlings emerge in the spring. A cherry tree will take three to four years in the field to produce its first crop of fruit, and seven years to attain full maturity, because of the cold-weather requirement, none of the Prunus genus can grow in tropical climates. Cherries have a growing season and can grow in most temperate latitudes. Cherries blossom in April and the season for the cherry harvest is in the summer
5.
Artichoke
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The globe artichoke is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as a food. The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom, the budding artichoke flower-head is a cluster of many budding small flowers together with many bracts, on an edible base. Once the buds bloom, the changes to a coarse. Another variety of the species is the cardoon, a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Both wild forms and cultivated varieties exist and this vegetable grows to 1. 4–2 m tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery, glaucous-green leaves 50–82 cm long. The flowers develop in a head from an edible bud about 8–15 cm diameter with numerous triangular scales. These are inedible in older, larger flowers, Artichoke contains the bioactive agents apigenin and luteolin. The total antioxidant capacity of artichoke flower heads is one of the highest reported for vegetables, cynarine is a chemical constituent in Cynara. The majority of the found in artichoke is located in the pulp of the leaves, though dried leaves. It inhibits taste receptors, making water seem sweet, the artichoke is mentioned as a garden plant in the 8th century BC by Homer and Hesiod. The naturally occurring variant of the artichoke, the cardoon, which is native to the Mediterranean area, also has records of use as a food among the ancient Greeks and Romans. In North Africa, where it is found in the wild state. Varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily beginning in the period of the ancient Greeks. In that period, the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, the Romans called the vegetable carduus. Further improvement in the form appears to have taken place in the medieval period in Muslim Spain. Names for the artichoke in many European languages today come from medieval Arabic الخرشوف Al Khurshuuf via late medieval Spain, towards 1480 it is noticed in Venice, as a curiosity. But very soon veers towards the northwest. Artichoke beds are mentioned in Avignon by the notaries from 1532 onward, appearing as carchofas at Cavaillon in 1541, at Chateauneuf du Pape in 1553, at Orange in 1554. The local name remains carchofas, from the Italian carciofo and they are very small, the size of a hens egg. and are still considered a luxury, a vaguely aphrodisiac tidbit that one preserved in sugar syrup
6.
Asparagus
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Asparagus, or garden asparagus, scientific name Asparagus officinalis, is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial plant species in the genus Asparagus. Asparagus officinalis is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, Asparagus is a herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 100–150 cm tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. The leaves are in fact needle-like cladodes in the axils of leaves, they are 6–32 mm long and 1 mm broad. The root system is adventitious and the type is fasciculated. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, the fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm diameter, which is poisonous to humans. Plants native to the coasts of Europe are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. Distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only 30–70 cm high and it is treated as a distinct species, Asparagus prostratus Dumort, by some authors. Asparagus has been used as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its flavour, diuretic properties. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 BC, in ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in Spain. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter, Roman Epicureans even froze it high in the Alps, emperor Augustus created the Asparagus Fleet for hauling the vegetable, and coined the expression faster than cooking asparagus for quick action. A recipe for cooking asparagus is in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third-century AD De re coquinaria, the ancient Greek physician Galen mentioned asparagus as a beneficial herb during the second century AD, but after the Roman empire ended, asparagus drew little medieval attention. That piece of writing celebrates its aphrodisiacal power, a virtue that the Indian Ananga Ranga attributes to special phosphorus elements that also counteract fatigue. By 1469, asparagus was cultivated in French monasteries, Asparagus appears to have been hardly noticed in England until 1538, and in Germany until 1542. The finest texture and the strongest and yet most delicate taste is in the tips, the points damour were served as a delicacy to Madame de Pompadour. Asparagus became available to the New World around 1850, in the United States, only young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten, once the buds start to open, the shoots quickly turn woody. Water makes up 93% of asparaguss composition, Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, as the plant is relatively rich in this compound. The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, in Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often stir-fried
7.
Amboise
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Amboise is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It lies on the banks of the Loire River,27 kilometres east of Tours, today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. The town of Amboise is also only about 18 kilometres away from the historic Château de Chenonceau and its former name was Ambacia, from the old name of the river and marsh Amasse. The narrow streets contain some good examples of timbered housing, just outside the city is the Pagode de Chanteloup, a 44 m tall Chinese Pagoda built in 1775 by the Duke of Choiseul. The Pagoda is seven levels high, with each level slightly smaller than the last one, an interior staircase to reach all levels is open to the public. The Musée de la Poste is a museum tracing the history of the delivery service. A 20th-century fountain by Max Ernst stands in front of the market place, clovis I and the Visigoths signed a peace treaty of alliance with the Arvernians in 503, which assisted him in his defeat of the Visigothic kingdom in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. Joan of Arc passed through in 1429 on her way to Orleans to the Battle of Patay, the Amboise conspiracy was the conspiracy of Condé and the Huguenots in 1560 against Francis II, Catherine de Medici, and the Guises. The Edict of Amboise conceded the free exercise of worship to the Protestants, the Château at Amboise was home to Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, for much of her early life, being raised there at the French court of Henry II. Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life in Amboise, some of his inventions are still there and have not been removed. Leonardo died in the arms of King Francis I, and he was buried in a crypt near the Chateau dAmboise, the house has lost some of its original parts, but it still stands today and has a beautiful overlook of the Loire River. Here was born in 1743 – Louis Claude de Saint-Martin French philosopher, abd el Kader Ibn Mouhi Ad-Din was imprisoned at the Château dAmboise
8.
Angers
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Angers is a city in western France, about 300 km southwest of Paris. It is chef-lieu of the Maine-et-Loire department and was, before the French Revolution, the inhabitants of both the city and the province are called Angevins. The commune of Angers proper, without the area, is the third most populous in northwestern France after Nantes and Rennes. Angers is the capital of Anjou and was for centuries an important stronghold in northwestern France. It is the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and was during the reign of René of Anjou one of the centers of Europe. Angers developed at the confluence of three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loir, all coming from the north and their confluence, just north of Angers, creates the Maine, a short but wide river that flows into the Loire several kilometers south. The Angers metropolitan area is an economic center in western France, particularly active in the industrial sector, horticulture. Angers proper covers 42.70 square kilometers and has a population of 147,305 inhabitants, the Angers Loire Métropole is made up of 33 communes covering 540 square kilometers with 287,000 inhabitants. Angers enjoys a cultural life, made possible by its universities. The old medieval center is dominated by the massive château of the Plantagenêts, home of the Apocalypse Tapestry. Angers is also both at the edge of the Val de Loire, a World Heritage Site, and the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park, the city is first mentioned by Ptolemy around AD150 in his Geography. It was then known as Juliomagus, a name by which it appears in the Tabula Peutingeriana. The name is a compound of the Latin name Julius and the Celtic magos, similar town dedications were common in Roman Gaul, and toponyms often kept a Gallic element. When the location needed to be distinguished from other Juliomagi, it was known as Juliomagus Andecavorum, in reference to the principal Gallic tribe in, around AD400, the city came to be referred to as the civitas Andecavorum. This was a change in Gaul, also seen in the names of Paris, Tours. During the Middle Ages, the late Latin name gradually developed into the modern one and it is successively mentioned as Andecava civitas, Andecavis, Andegavis, Angieus and Angeus. The form Angiers appeared during the 12th century and was corrupted to Angers. The Latin Andecavum gave also Anjou its name and this double formation is quite common in France and is also seen in Poitiers & Poitou and Bourges & Berry
9.
Blois
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Blois is a city and the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. In 1171, Blois was the site of a libel against its Jewish community that led to 31 Jews being burned to death. Their martyrdom also contributed to a prominent and durable school of poetry inspired by Christian persecution, in 1196, Count Louis granted privileges to the townsmen, a commune, which survived throughout the Middle Ages, probably dated from this time. The counts of the Châtillon line resided at Blois more often than their predecessors, in 1429, Joan of Arc made Blois her base of operations for the relief of Orléans. Joan of Arc rode the thirty-five miles on Wednesday 29 April to Blois to relieve Orléans, after his captivity in England, Charles of Orléans in 1440 took up his residence in the château, where in 1462 his son, afterwards Louis XII, was born. In the 16th century Blois was often the resort of the French court, the Treaty of Blois, which temporarily halted the Italian Wars, was signed there in 1504–1505. The citys inhabitants included many Calvinists, and in 1562 and 1567 it was the scene of struggles between them and the supporters of the Catholic Church, the bishopric, seated at Blois Cathedral, dates from the end of the 17th century. In 1814 Blois was for a time the seat of the regency of Marie Louise. Blois was occupied during World War II by the German army, the city was liberated by American soldiers during the last two weeks of August 1944. On both occasions, the city withstood several days of bombing, the Château de Blois, a Renaissance château once occupied by King Louis XII, is located in the centre of the city, and an 18th-century stone bridge spans the Loire. As Blois is built on a pair of hills, winding and steep pathways run through the city. To the south of the city, the Forêt de Russy is a reminder of the woods that once covered the area. La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin is a museum fronting on the Château, the Gare de Blois railway station offers direct connections to Paris, Orléans, Tours, Nantes and several regional destinations. The A10 motorway connects Blois with Paris, Orléans and Tours, Blois was the birthplace of, Thubois Stephen, King of England from 1135 to 1154. Official website Documentary photography of Blois by Sayf Jewish Encyclopedia entry INSEE commune file
10.
Chinon
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Chinon is a commune located in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Region Centre, France. The regional area is called the Touraine, which is known as the garden of France and it is well known for its wine, castle, and historic town. Chinon played an important and strategic role during the Middle Ages, Chinon is in the Loire valley, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. The historic town of Chinon is on the banks of the Vienne river about 10 kilometres from where it joins the Loire, settlement in Chinon dates from prehistoric times, with a pronounced importance for both French and English history in the Middle Ages. The site was fortified early on, and by the 5th century a Gallo-Roman castrum had been established there, towards the mid 5th century, a disciple of St Martin, St Mexme, established first a hermitage, and then a monastery to the east of the town. This religious foundation bearing his name flourished in the period, being rebuilt. The eventual complex contained a large and highly decorated church and a square of canons residences, closure and partial demolition during and after the Revolution of 1789 have damaged this once very important church. The imposing second façade still stands, with its nave dating from the year 1000 A. D and its important remains have been restored as historical monument and a cultural centre. During the Middle Ages, Chinon further developed, especially under Henry II, the castle was rebuilt and extended, becoming his administrative center and a favourite residence. It was where court was held during the Angevin Empire. On Henrys death at the castle in 1189, Chinon first passed to his eldest surviving son from his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, on Richards death in 1199, it then passed to the youngest of their children, John Lackland. King John would lose the castle in a siege in 1205 to the French king Philip II Augustus, the castle in Chinon served as a prison for a time when Philip IV the Fair ordered the Knights Templar arrested in 1307. Jacques de Molay, Grand Master, and a few other dignitaries of the Order of the Temple were incarcerated there prior to trial and eventual execution, the province remained faithful to him and he made lengthy stays with his court there. In 1429, the 17 year old Joan of Arc came to Chinon to meet, the meetings in Chinon with the future Charles VII of France and his acceptance of her was the turning point of the war, helping to establish both firmer national boundaries and sentiment. The region is the scene of these fantastic, critical and observant adventures, from the sixteenth century, Chinon was no longer a royal residence, and in 1631 it became part of the estates of the Duke of Richelieu, who neglected the fortress. Apart from townhouses and convents that were built, the city changed little up to the Revolution, in the 1820s, however, the fortifications were pulled down and the banks of the Vienne River were opened up to the outside. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, Chinon grew to the east, towards the railway station, the historic centre was registered as a conservation area in 1968, and since that time has been undergoing restoration in order to preserve its historic, natural and architectural identity. Chinon is located in the heart of the Val de Loire,47 km southwest of Tours and 305 km south west of Paris
