Regional produce and local specialities to enjoy along La Voie Bleue
After all your efforts cycling away, enjoy the fruits of others’ labours! Discover local specialities you can sample all along the 700km of La Voie Bleue cycle route. Savour tastings and encounters on the spot and take some produce home with you if you can!
Mirabelle plums in all their forms
With their delicate fragrance, their sweet, juicy texture and their subtle flavour, mirabelle plums are a culinary treasure from Lorraine! These little round yellow fruit have become a great speciality of the region. There are so many ways to enjoy them, from walking amidst the orchards in blossom to trying out recipes using these cherry plums. Mirabelles can be relished year round of course!
Did you know?
With some 400,000 mirabelle plum trees scattered around the region, Lorraine produces c.70% of the world’s mirabelle plums, harvesting 15,000 tonnes of these little delights a year. They’re now protected by the IGP (or protected geographical indication) ‘Mirabelles de Lorraine’.
Liverdun madeleines
You may just have heard of Commercy madeleines from Lorraine. You should certainly also taste Liverdun madeleines. Firm on the outside, melting in the middle, the recipe for the ‘true Liverdun madeleine’ was developed in 1922. Made using artisanal methods in the village of Liverdun, near the city of Nancy, they’re easily recognizable thanks to the old-style boxes they’re sold in, showing a jolly grandmother tucking into a madeleine. You can taste them on the spot at Liverdun, in a shop on Place de la Gare, or then you can find them in supermarkets in the Nancy area.
Vosges sweets are just… so sweet
Using large copper pans… fir honey… and bergamot, violet or raspberry essential oils, the ingredients are really quite simple for making sweet Vosges sweets! The traditional know-how that goes into producing them has been kept alive by just a few craft confectioners who care deeply about them. Most of these confectioners put on guided tours across the year, geared to young and old alike. So learn about the secrets of how these legendary sweets are made!
The sweet and the savoury in Haute-Saône
On the sweet side, discover a speciality of the Haute-Saône well worth seeking out – Griottine de Fougerolles. A griottine is a type of wild cherry. Here, they’re macerated in several spirits. After several stages, a delicious jar of fruit is the result… with an alcoholic content of 15% volume. Savour them, in moderation, maybe at aperitif time or at the end of a meal, or then use them in recipes.
On the savoury side, cancoillotte is a typical speciality from the Franche-Comté Region. In olden days, it was considered the cheese of the poor. With just 11% fat content, it’s a cheese that has come to be much appreciated by many in the region! Today, there are different versions, prepared with garlic, shallots or white wine. Cancoillotte can be eaten hot or cold, with potatoes, or simply on bread. Give it a try!
Pôchouse from the Saône
So what is pôchouse? It’s a recipe based on four river fish (traditionally pike, perch, eel and tench) and white wine. It’s a bit like a bouillabaisse, but made with freshwater fish. Traced back to the 16th century, at that period, it was a modest meal prepared by boatmen and anglers along the Doubs and Saône Rivers. Try this dish in restaurants on the banks of the Saône. Some recommended addresses: at Saint-Jean-de-Losne, the Auberge du Paradis, which lives up to its name; at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, L’Hôtellerie Bourguignonne, where chef Didier Denis serves up an updated pôchouse recipe.
Bresse chicken
With their white plumage, blue feet and red combs, Bresse chickens are the only poultry, to date, to have been awarded the distinction of their own Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), and that since 1957! Living free range, they are reared in the most respectful way, following strict regulations. Top chefs greatly appreciate them and have created special recipes using Bresse chicken. For example, try such a dish at the restaurant L’Embarcadère at Jassans near Villefranche-sur-Saône.
Lyon tarte aux pralines roses
This typically Lyonnais dessert features almonds coated in pink sugar. The colourful almonds are crushed and mixed with crème fraîche and spread on a generous pastry base. With its very appealing colour, it’s hard to resist this highly attractive, tasty pudding. You can sample it at the Boulangerie du Palais in the Vieux Lyon quarter, at the Boulangerie Jocteur on L'Ile Barbe along the Saône, in the cake shops run by renowned Lyon pâtissier Sébastien Bouillet, or in Lyon’s most celebrated covered market, the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse.
Spotlight on: Vélo & Fromage (Cheese and Cycling) trails along La Voie Bleue
The very title gives away the idea! As you cycle along, stop to visit farms, dairies and cheese shops, discovering the passionate craft knowledge involved in making and ageing the fine range of cheeses produced in our regions. This is cycling for those with a refined palate!
Along La Voie Bleue, three sections of the route have been designated ‘Vélo & Fromage’ trails, in Saône-et-Loire, Haute-Saône, and Moselle respectively.
In Saône-et-Loire, following the Grande Boucle de Bourgogne du Sud (or Great Southern Burgundy Loop), goat’s cheese has pride of place among the 23 sites connected with cheese listed in these parts, going from farm visits, including tastings, to markets. (This cycling circuit takes you along La Voie Bleue from Chalon-sur-Saône to Mâcon, then round via La Voie Verte back to Châlon.)
In Haute-Saône, going from Ambiévillers up to Essertenne and Cecey, the 140km of track following waterways allow you to discover locks and swing bridges – notably that at Selles, a listed historic monument. But along this gentle stretch of cycle route, you can add to your enjoyment with little stops dedicated to cheese, with 13 listed sites.
In the county of Moselle, La Voie Bleue runs alongside the Moselle River between Apach (on the border with Luxembourg) and Novéant-sur-Moselle, passing via the towns of Thionville and Metz. Covering 120km, this stretch alternates between rural parts, former industrial quarters, wooded banks and vine-covered slopes. In addition, some 20 cheese-devoted sites lie close to your route along this fine tributary of the Rhine.