We left the large city of Toulouse mid-day and drove our Citroën rental car northwest to get to our destination, the name of which is the title of this post. It is a small medieval village in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. If any of you have seen the movie, The One Hundred Foot Journey, starring Helen Mirren, it was filmed in this village.
On the way to SANV (sorry, but I’ve got to abbreviate that for as many times as I may write it) we passed through mostly farmlands at first with ancient stone houses with red tiled roofs. The fields were mostly of corn and sunflowers but also the occasional apple orchard. In this region, they espalier the trees so that they are grown almost like a flat-planed vine on connecting wires. It seems to put the apples more toward the outside of the tree where they get more even sunlight.
After the agricultural region we entered into a beautiful gorge, or canyon, in which the river Averyon flowed through the bottom. It went on and on with infrequent small villages along the river and eventually a wonderland for people who love the outdoors. We saw rock climbers on the sheer faces of dramatic cliffs, hikers and walkers on foot paths which followed the riverside, campers, and people in canoes and kayaks.
While still in the gorge we came to SANV and entered the village across a narrow bridge lined with pots of flowering plants. It was a beautiful way to come into this gem of a place. We found a place to park, (not easy in this tiny old village), and the woman proprietor of our bed and breakfast came out to meet us at the car. Most of the streets in the village are narrow and cobblestoned and not open to cars so she had to lead us back down a labyrinth of paths to find La Residence, our home for the next three nights. She and her male partner moved here from Melbourne, Australia over a year ago to open the inn. They greeted us very warmly and made us feel welcome with a nice bottle of French wine.
Our room is charming, on the top floor of the old home, and with its own outdoor terrace looking out over the quaint gardens, the roof tops of neighboring buildings, a church tower, and the surrounding green hillsides and sheer white cliffs of the nearby gorge. It is the perfect place to feel like you’ve stepped back in time to when things were very different and not so busy. They told us that the original home was built in the late 1400s, around the same time Columbus was setting out to discover the new world.
Ryan had to get some work taken care of so, the martyr that I am, decided I would go into the garden and read until he was done. I found the perfect spot, a cozy, red, daybed with large cushions. I could have stayed there all day! But, fortunately, Ryan didn’t have to work the whole day and, when he was finished, we decided we would set out to wander the village a bit and find a place to eat.
The whole village seemed to congregate in the main square where they were having drinks mostly, but some had baguettes or sandwiches to accompany their wine and beer. Ryan and I found the nearby bread shop where we conversed solely in French with the proprietor (poor him!) and he made us special sandwiches with a large baguette, sliced ham, goat cheese of the region, and diced tomatoes and olive oil. It couldn’t have been more French or a better meal! We took them out to the square and joined the locals at small tables along with glasses of wine we picked up from a nearby wine cafe.
After savoring that meal, we left to wander more of the village with ice cream cones from another shop. After circumnavigating the village, we ended up back at our bed and breakfast. It could not have been a more delightful day and one we hope to replicate closely tomorrow and the next day, and the next….a oui (oh yeah), we’ll sadly have to leave this lovely spot by then.
What a great display of different styles you have there. Some of the pictures are full of the beauty of the villages, buildings, and designs that make the place very special!