| |||
| Aquitaine region | |||
| Capital | Bordeaux | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 3.285.970 | ||
other value for residents on Wikidata: 3316889   | |||
| surface | 41,284 km² | ||
| another value for area on Wikidata: 41309 | |||
| no tourist info on Wikidata: | |||
| location | |||
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The region Aquitaine (French Aquitaine) located in the southwest Of France. In the south, the Pyrenees form the border with Spain and in the west the Atlantic coast borders the region. The capital is Bordeaux.
Regions
Landscapes and historical provinces
- Bearn, historical vice-county and later a province at the foot of the Pyrenees, makes up the eastern part of the department Pyrénées-Atlantiques out, the main town is Pau
- Gascony, large historical province in the south, which occupied large parts of the south of the modern regions of Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrenées (today's Départements Landes, south of Gironde, south and west of Lot-et-Garonne, parts of Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
- Les Landes, short for les Landes de Gascony, extensive, wooded (especially pine) heathland on the Atlantic coast, between the Gironde and the mouth of the Adour, corresponds to parts of the department Country
- Côte d’Argent, the coastal strip in front of the Landes on the Atlantic Ocean with almost 100 kilometers of uninterrupted sandy beach, between Gironde and Adour, named after its sand, which shines silvery in certain light
- Guyenne, a former duchy and historical province that stretched from Gironde to the western edge of the Massif Central; Capital Bordeaux
- Médoc, the triangular peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and Gironde, best known as a wine-growing region
- Périgord, hilly landscape and a former county in the northeast of the region, around Périgueux; corresponds roughly to the Dordogne department
- french Basque Country in the extreme southwest on the border with Spain
- Cote basque, Atlantic coastline south of the mouth of the Ardor; partly steep coast, partly sandy beach (e.g. near Biarritz)
Departments
places
- 1 Bordeaux
- Capital of the region; a term for every wine connoisseur - 2 Agen - The Garonne flows through it and is the center of prune production
- 3 Bayonne - is a port city
- 4 Biarritz - is located on the Atlantic coast and has been known as a spa and seaside resort since the 19th century
- 5 Fumel
- - 6 Mont-de-Marsan - the two rivers Midou and Douze merge to form the Midouze river
- 7 Orthez -
- 8 Pau - University town at the foot of the Pyrenees
- 9 Périgueux - City of Art and History, Saint-Front Cathedral, Museum of Art and Archeology of the Perigord, Military Museum of the Perigord, Puy-Saint-Front district, Saint-Etienne-de-la-Cité church, Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum
- 10 Saint-Jean-de-Luz -
- 11 Soulac-sur-Mer - Seaside resort south of the Gironde estuary with numerous holiday homes and a pilgrimage church, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Mont-de-Marsan
The Garonne in Bordeaux
.jpg/271px-Biarritz_Grandplage_(2).jpg)
Biarritz Grand Plage
Bayonne
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Other goals
- Lascaux cave - The cave paintings are among the oldest depicting works of art in human history and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Regional nature park Landes de Gascony
background
Various significant testimonies to human history have been found in this region. The "Cro-Magnon man" was named after the rock roof of Cro-Magnon (near Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, Dordogne), a name for people living in Europe during the last glacial period (40,000–12,000 years ago today). Among the oldest evidence of human culture in this region are the Venus of Brassempouy (26,000–21,000 years ago) and the Lascaux cave paintings from the Paleolithic (between 17,000 and 15,000 BC), which are among the oldest works of art ever known to man.
At the time of Julius Caesar, the region was inhabited by the Aquitanians, who, like the inhabitants of the rest of Gaul, did not belong to the Celts, but whose languages are probably related to today's Basque. 56 BC They were subjugated by Caesar's troops. Subsequently it became the Roman province Gallia Aquitania built.
Towards the end of the Roman Empire, the area was ruled by the Visigoths. Clovis I then added them to the Frankish Empire at the beginning of the 6th century. In 671 the Duchy of Aquitaine (under formal Frankish suzerainty) became largely independent. Its rulers at this time belonged to the tribe of Vascones to, ancestors of today's Basques, from which also the geographical name Gascony derives. The advance of the Moors was repulsed by the Battle of Poitiers in 732. Charlemagne subjugated the Vasconian dukes again and made Aquitaine part of the Franconian Empire.
In the High Middle Ages, the Duchy of Aquitaine was ruled by the House of Anjou-Plantagenêt, which also provided the kings of England from the middle of the 12th to the end of the 14th century. England and the western half of France at this time are therefore summarized by some historians to form the "Angevin Empire". This caused conflicts, as the Plantagenets were equal in the role of vassals of the French kings as well as their own royal dignity. Aquitaine was divided into the Duchy of Guyenne and the County of Gascogne in 1259, only the latter remained with the Plantagenets until the Hundred Years War. In 1453 both fell to the French crown domain.
A separate territory was the vice-county of Béarn, which the French kings did not take into their direct possession until 1620 and which to this day has a certain regional identity of its own. Until the French Revolution, Guyenne and Gascogne as well as Béarn existed as provinces of the Kingdom of France, then they were divided into several departments.
It was not until 1954 that the Aquitaine region was created in the form that this travel guide treats. In 2016 she became with the regions Limousin and Poitou-Charentes merged to form the Greater Region of New Aquitaine. For the sake of clarity, this travel guide continues to use the old regions.
language
As everywhere in France, the official and main lingua franca is French. Occitan dialects (Gascon, Béarnais) are traditionally spoken. In the very south-west there is a Basque-speaking minority. This language was suppressed for a long time, but nowadays you can see more and more bilingual signage.
getting there
By plane
The main airport in the region is Bordeaux-Mérignac. There are also direct flights from German-speaking countries. There is another large airport in Biarritz, where there are only seasonal direct flights from Geneva or Strasbourg, otherwise only with a change in Paris. There are regional airports in Pau and Bergerac. If the destination is in the east of the region, you can also travel to the airport Toulouse consider.
By train
Train stations with a TGV stop are among others Bordeaux, Arcachon, Agen, Biarritz, Dax, Orthez, Pau. Thanks to a high-speed route that allows speeds of up to 300 km / h, Bordeaux can be reached from Paris-Montparnasse in just two hours. The cities of Biarritz or Pau can be reached from Paris in just over four hours.
From Germany there are train connections with the TGV, ICE or Thalys Paris, there is a change in the direction of the Atlantic coast. In Paris, you have to switch between different train stations with the Métro. The fastest connection from Cologne to Bordeaux, for example, takes less than seven hours, and from Basel a good 7 hours.
By car
- from northwest Germany
You can reach Belgium via the A4 towards Aachen and the A44 towards Liège. Then continue on the E 40, the E 42 and the E 19 to France and from there on the A 2 and the A 1 to Paris. Paris is surrounded by several motorway rings, which, however, are often plagued by traffic jams. Through Paris via the A 3, the A 86 and the A 6A on the A 10 in the direction of Bordeaux. If you want to save on tolls, you can switch to the N 20 / D 2020 south of Paris to Artenay, and to the N 10 to Bordeaux south of Poitiers (some of which have been developed similar to a motorway).
From Cologne it is about 1,050 km to Bordeaux. If you start early (7 a.m. - 8 a.m.) and come from the north-west, the journey can be manageable in one day (duration without traffic jam: just under 10 hours). However, depending on the situation, this is not always recommended, so you may need to plan an overnight stay. Almost all French motorways described here are subject to tolls, you can get a small time advantage here with credit card payment (not possible everywhere!).
- from southwest Germany
From Karlsruhe it is about 1,000 km on the shortest route to Bordeaux. Via the A 5 in the direction of Basel, you can get to France via the AD Neuchâtel (signs for Lyon, Mülhausen). Then via the A 36, the A 39, the A 40 and the A 42 to Lyon. Through Lyon via the "Boulevard Périphérique Nord" (signposted Roanne), onto the A 6 in the direction of Roanne and then onto the A 89, which leads directly to Bordeaux. If you want to save a little toll, you cannot change to the A 39 at Dole (A 36), but continue on the A 36 and change to the A 6 in the direction of Lyon at Beaune. At Chalon-sur-Saone (exit 26), change to the N 80 (signposted for Montceau-les-Mines, later for Moulins), then continue on the N 70 and the N 79 (signposted Moulins, later Montlucon / A 71 ) to Montmarault. Then via the A 71 (signposted Clermont FD) and the A 89 to Bordeaux. (Duration (without traffic jams). 8 hours 30 minutes.)
By bus
Several long-distance bus providers have connections to the Aquitaine region, including Bordeaux, Périgeux, Biarritz, Pau or Agen. The provider Flixbus e.g. offers trips several times a day between Paris and Bordeaux, the journey time is about 7-8 hours. Also the provider Ouibus is on many of these routes, e.g. between Paris and Biarritz. The journey time is around 13 hours.
mobility
By train
TER regional trains run regularly on several routes. The Bordeaux-Saint Jean train station is a hub in the region. Most of the time, the trains on the regional routes generally run in the morning and in the evening almost every hour, but at greater intervals during the day. Regional trains, on the other hand, run much more frequently in the vicinity of Bordeaux, here connections are offered almost every hour, but less often on weekends.
Timetables of the railway lines can be found on the regional Website for the TER trains. There you will find, among other things, the timetable tables for TER lines 25 to Périgueux (travel time from Bordeaux one and a half hours), 32 to Arcachon (travel time one hour, even on weekends every hour) or 61 to Biarritz (travel time two hours).
Tourist Attractions
Along the entire Côte d'Argent there are remains of fortifications that were built by the German occupying forces during the Second World War in the event of an Allied landing in Aquitaine. Many of the bunkers and guns can still be explored today, for example on the beaches nearby Soulac-sur-Mer.
activities
kitchen
Please refer Aquitaine cuisine at Koch-Wiki
