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The Scents of Quercy
In Le Mas de la Freysse, near the village of Escamps, Mélie and Fred grow 1 200 varieties of iris in an extraordinary garden called "Les Senteurs du Quercy" which extends over 2 hectares shimmering with infinite nuances of colour. For Mélie, the iris is a teenage love which has never ceased to get stronger. She met her other half in the Lubéron, where she gained her first horticultural experience. Fred and Mélie thereafter joined their destinies and their enthusiasms, in which irises and love of landscape gardening mingle. With all the requisite qualifications gained, Mélie and Fred chose to settle in the Lot where they have developed one of the nurseries with the largest number of iris varieties in France. When they have stopped flowering, more than 150 varieties of hemerocallis take over where they leave off.
Les Senteurs du Quercy also offer more than 600 species of ornamental or aromatic plants suited to limestone soils, as well as a delicious collection of old tomato varieties, including a yellow "beef heart" and a giant red.
Tropical aromas
In the village of Degagnac, near Gourdon, a 17th century mill typical of the architecture of Quercy has been transformed by Christine and Philippe into something out of the ordinary: a paradise of tropical plants and spices. They specialise in selling exotic plants and fruit trees by post, as well as spice plants and those grown for their perfume. They are also regulars on Cahors market, where they sell herbs and spices every week. In Degagnac, you can visit their greenhouses by appointment.
The side of the mill facing the road is well-built in local stone. On the garden side, you enter another dimension. Here, exuberance and heady scents take over: huge potfuls of ginger and galangal, aromatic Szechuan pepper, vervain, the intoxicating perfume of jasmine and other wonders whose names are a voyage of discovery in themselves. In parallel with their work as nurserymen, Philippe and Christine import spices from abroad and pack them for sale in their own way. Well worth a try: their original mixtures specially made up for duck breast, spiced gingerbread, mulled wine, etc...
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Lot Tourisme
BP 7 – 46001 Cahors cedex 9
05 65 35 07 09
info@tourisme-lot.com
Website co-financed by the European Union. Europe is participating through the European Regional Development Fund