IgoUgo

Things To Do in France

Talmont


  • France, Europe
Best of IgoUgo

Well Worth a Visit

  • Fiver29 from Barrow in Furness
  • June 25, 2009
TalmontMore Photos
Talmont is a small village on the West Coast of France, according to the leaflet it was originally built in 1284 by Edward I of England who reigned in this part of France during this period. It is well positioned on the estuary of the Gironde River.

The only cars which are allowed in the village are the cars of the residents. For visitors there is a car park just before the entrance to the village, it costs 1€ to park for the day, from there it’s a very short walk into the village.

The main feature of the village is the Roman style church of Sainte-Radegonde which dates back to the 12th century; the church is located on the cliff side looking out over the estuary. The church was once a point on the route of pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela. The church was fortified in the Middle Ages and after bombardments from the sea, it was at risk, but was saved by reinforcement work to the cliff, the church is surrounded by a small cemetery.

Moving away from the church and into the village itself, you’ll notice that many of the houses and shops are whitewashed, and it give the village a Mediterranean feel like you would see in Cyprus or Greece. Most of the shops are concentrated in the first few blocks, they are all small shops there’s nothing that could even remotely resemble a supermarket. I think we managed to look in all the shops, and there was some lovely stuff. The clothes which were being sold were beautiful, they looked to be fairly unique, and not the sort of thing you could just buy off the shelf anywhere. Each shop sold something different, whether it was silk scarves or novelty clocks, there was a shop to suit everyone. One of my favourites was a soap shop, which sounds rather odd, but it sold virtually every scent of soap you could possibly imagine, as well as bath salts and bath bombs. The smell in the shop could be slightly overpowering I suppose, but I loved it. There was also a shop selling the more traditional tourist souvenirs as we first walked into the village.

Part of the village was called the Artisan area, and in this area there were shops selling handmade jewellery and other arts and craft type items. Again these were all beautiful and quite unique, but there were also very expensive. The shop owners where quite happy for you to look and browse though, they seemed to be pleased that someone was enjoying their work.

There are also a few little cafes in Talmont; the French of course love their crepes so these were the mainstay of the menus. The cafe we used had mostly omelettes for a savoury dish and crepes for a sweet. There were other items, but they made up only a tiny part of the menu, they also did specials for children which included a main meal, a sweet (either crepe or ice-cream) and a drink (but the only choice was diluted lemon squash).

Talmont is also famous for its hollyhocks, which flower from early spring until late summer. They seem to grow everywhere and it makes for a lovely sight, and adds a bit of character to the village. The lack of cars on the streets also added a bit of character, it was nice to be able to walk around without having to dodge around cars or squeeze against the walls to allow vehicles to go past.

Whilst the village attracts a lot of tourists, especially during the summer months, they haven’t tried to Anglicise it at all. The only person who spoke more than a few words of English was the woman who worked in the information booth just outside the car park. The other residents and shopkeepers could manage a hello and thank you, but if you want to communicate properly you really need to brush up on your French beforehand.

For anyone who likes to shop, especially to shop for something out of the ordinary, then Talmont is a great place to go. Even I enjoyed browsing around the shops and I really hate shopping as a rule. The interior of the church wasn’t very impressive, but you can go and light a candle and have as long as you like to sit and contemplate in peace.
From journal Trip to France West Coast