The famous Rocamadour Cheese Festival is here again. This 22nd edition of Fête des Fromages de Rocamadour will be on Sunday, June 12, 2011.

The Rocamadour Fête des Fromages is one of the few events dedicated exclusively to cheese from the South of France. Forty producers will be at the Fête with their farmhouse cheeses – 15 producers of goat milk cheeses, 15 sheep’s milk cheeses and 10 producers of cow milk cheeses.

French Cheeses

The day’s program begins at 10:30 a.m. with a “Fruits de la Terre” mass, followed by the blessing of the sheep and goats, an inter-regional competition of farmhouse cheeses and a rustic lunch.

The Cheese Farmers Market will be on the whole day and visitors will be able to taste and buy cheeses from the south of France, as well as enjoy some wine tasting.

Throughout the day, musicians from the region will entertain with music from  Quercy.  And before the day is over, the winning cheese of the 22nd Fête des Fromages will be announced.

About 10,000 people visited the Rocamadour Fête des Fromages last year. So if you’re planning on staying in or around Rocamadour during the cheese festival, don’t show up without having pre-booked your accommodation.  You can search for Rocamadour hotels, read hotel reviews and book your Rocamadour hotel here >

Read more about the Fête des Fromages here >

Take a walk around Rocamadour old town with Travesignposts photos.

Event: Fête des Fromages
Place: Rocamadour, Lot (46), Midi-Pyrenees
Date : Sunday, June 12, 2011
Time : 10:30 – 17:30
Cost  :  Free and parking

Travel Signposts Blog

Our journey out to Rocamadour was very pleasant as we drove through the beautiful French country side.  Some of the country roads were rather narrow and as the coach climbed further up the cliff and got closer to our destination the path got narrower still.  In certain spots our coach practically brushed past the front of village houses on the cliff-side and you could see the look of disapproval from its elderly occupants.  ‘Merde’, they must be cursing ‘encore des Étrangers envahissant notre village’ . You do empathize with them as large tourist coaches roar past their humble homes every day, disrupting their quiet village life and there’s nothing in it for them except for the noise pollution and petrol fumes.

Anyway when we finally arrived at the gate of Rocamadour village, all coaches have to make a three-point manoevre to turn around and then park the coach some 50 meters up.  The road is so narrow and just outside the village gate is the only spot where the coaches could make a tight turnaround. A little too far back and you’re off the cliff, as noted by those in the back of the bus as they screeched in horror.  So between the cliff edge, village gate and cliff wall, our coach driver very carefully managed to turn the coach around and received cheers of approval from the group. 

The next tour bus that came along wasn’t so lucky.  Their driver struggled to make the turn and as you can see from the photos, his bus was almost jammed at the village gate.  The parking attendant, and everyone witnessing the event were concerned that he might take down the village gate.  The poor guy really didn’t know how to get out of the jam and you could see the look of panick on his face, not helped by the crowds of onlookers.  Meanwhile, he was also causing quite an obstruction at the gate. 

Our coach driver offered to take over from him and you could see the relief on his face.  With careful little turns, our driver finally extricated the bus from the gate to cheers from everyone.  Phew, that was a tricky situation!  If it were not for the help our driver provided, the medieval gate of Rocamadour village may no longer exist today.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

On Pentecost Sunday the village of Rocamadour hosts its annual Fête des Fromages. This apparently is the largest cheese festival in the south of France. When we visited Rocamadour, which is located in the southwest, just north of the city of Toulouse, we had no idea that it’s fame includes a large cheese festival. Casting back to our experience at Rocamadour, it’s hard to imagine how this little village could host that many visitors.

The Fête des Fromages features cheeses manufactured by 40 producers from 15 regions in the south. These comprise 15 producers of goat cheese, 15 of cheese made with sheep milk and 10 producers that make cheese from cow milk. You’ll be able to sample and purchase a range cheeses from the open market. Operating hours are:

Saturday: 3 pm to 7 pm, and
Sunday : 10 am to 7 pm

There’s a cheese competition and no doubt the judging will be a pretty intense and serious affair. To keep visitors entertained, there’s plenty of food, wine, music and entertainment. The festival is an opportunity to chill out and enjoy French food and wine, as well as explore Rocamadour’s ancient history.

Between 4pm and 5pm on Saturday, a herd of goats is shepherded from the valley to Causse. This region’s specialities include goat cheeses, fois gras, pâtés truffés (truffle pâté), confits et magrets of duck and goose, roquefort cheese and lamb. During your visit you can also stop at the local farms to purchase some fresh farm produce. Most of the farms will sell directly to the public.

This village has a cheese named after it, i.e. Cabécou de Rocamadour or more commonly known as “Rocamadour“. Since being awarded the AOC label in 1996, the producers have abandoned the name Cabécou as it’s too generic and hence today the cheese is just called “Rocamadour“. This also enables them to differentiate Rocamadour from the many Cabécou that exist. Rocamadour can be eaten at the various stages of maturation. When it’s between 1 and 2 weeks maturity it has a subtle acidic aroma and a slight nutty taste. As the “affinage” progresses, these characteristics mature and become more pronounced.

More about Rocamadour tomorrow!

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Rocamadour is a historic shrine perched on a clifftop. The town was one of the most famous centres of pilgrimage following the discovery in 1166 of an ancient grave and sepulchre which contained an undecayed body said to be that of the Christian hermit St. Amadour. The hermit was nicknamed “roc armator” (lover of rock) and the town took its name from him.

Rocamadour is laid out on four levels. There is a grand stairway from the town to the first level and pilgrims would climb the broad flight of 216 steps on their knees, saying their rosaries along the way. On the next level up are the main pilgrim chapels. Well, if you really don’t fancy climbing up the cliff on your knees , there are two sets of lifts that take you to the top. These are privately owned by two families. The first lift takes you from the town level to the shrines and then you connect with the second lift which takes you to the castle. It is well worth taking these lifts up so that you can have more time on the upper levels, and then walk back down.

We thoroughly recommend going up to the chateau as the views from up there are spectacular. You’ll need a two euro coin to pass through the old automatic turnstile to get access to the chateau’s ramparts. From the castle you can then step down to the mid-level where a complex of chapels can be found.

Rocamadour is a city devoted to the Virgin Mary and in the Chapel of Notre Dame you will find a statue of the Black Virgin. We then walked in the opposite direction of the pilgrims, making our way downhill past the Cross of Jerusalem and the 14 stations marking Jesus’ journey. Although we didn’t do it tough like the pilgrims, we nevertheless felt a sense of accomplishment having managed to race downhill in good time to get to our departure point.

Rocamadour town itself is a tourist precinct and the main street is lined with souvenir and food shops. Unlike the days of the pilgrims, this little town now has its own petit train for those who don’t fancy too much walking even at ground level.

Did you know that Rocamadour is also the name given to a small goat’s milk cheese that was awarded AOC status in 1996?

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog