The politics of traditional culture and a yearning for the past
Collonges-la-Rouge, Friday,
Tourism in France is worth €200 billion every year - but tourism is much more than just big business. The places and things that a country cherishes reflect its fundamental values. France guards its trademark cuisine, wines, not to forget, its fabulous cheeses and its iconic monuments, like the Eiffel Tower, Marseille's famous basilica Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde and the fairytale Loire Valley chateaus.
The British, by comparison, usually prefer monuments and picturesque panoramas like London's famous trio of Big Ben, the Shard and the Gherkin; Scotland's heather-clad Ben Nevis and Wales's rugged castles. As for Americans, they troop up and down the Empire State Building, marvel at the Hollywood sign - or pause before the brooding figure of Abraham Lincoln. In Spain, it's the big cities like Sevilla, Lugo or Pamplona who are fashionable…
This is all very well, but also, somehow inauthentic. What about cherishing elements of ordinary life too? And for tourists, there is, in fact, a respected club of the so-called 'prettiest villages of France' which aims to bring people to the small gems of the country, the modest corners where the word terroir has its roots. The most attractive thing about those places is probably their diversity, ranging from limestone villages perched on the tops of cliffs, to granite seaside settlements. As for the original 'prettiest village', Collonges-la-Rouge, this is a genuine 'working' village consisting of small houses all constructed of the local chili-red stone block walls topped by pointy roofs, the whole thing nestled in a large valley.
The whole idea of such "pretty villages" is, in fact, typically French: they love these human-sized hamlets full of nostalgia, full of reminders of how it all was before, Before what, you might ask? The answer is lurking not far away, in shopping centers and factories on the roads to towns, By contrast, in these villages, one baker, one chemist and one food shop is enough. Without forgetting the auberge, that vital stop for travelers seeking a simple but very tasty meal before sleeping in the small room on the first floor. Alas, the auberge economy was much destroyed in the 1960s when the first motorways appeared in France. However, this passion for its villages is one reason why the share of the population of France that still lives in rural areas is huge compared to close neighbors like Belgium where 98% of the population lives in urban areas.
Seven of the most beautiful villages in France
1. Collonges-la-Rouge (New Aquitaine)
Built out of chili-red stone and famous for its pointy slate roofs, this is where the story of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France' starts.
2. Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (Occitania)
3. Hell-Bourg (Reunion Island)
4. Veules-les-roses (Normandy)
At the estuary of France's shortest river, the Veules, and nestling alongside the chalk cliffs of the Côte d' Albatre, is a garden-town with walks where roses meet lilac and where jasmine meets camellia.
5. Monclus (Occitania)
Perched on the top of a hill with one church, one small bridge and one restaurant this is very much the definition of the typical French village but Monclus is most famous for its infinite lavender fields.
6. La Garde-de-Guérin (Occitania)
From the small stone tower you can admire a splendid view on the gorges of the Chassezac. The houses are mostly made of granite, hacked from the gorges themselves.
7. Eguisheim (Alsace-Lorraine)
A medieval village in France's Alsace wine region. The narrow, concentric streets of its old town are lined with many preserved half-timbered houses.
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