Original subtitles

Back in 2015...

Wow! Wow, look at that!

...an intrepid British couple...

Turn. Turn, turn, turn.

Wow!

...Dick and Angel Strawbridge, bought a neglected 45-room French chateau.

200-plus pages of reasons not to buy a house.

It was a huge undertaking.

Right, we're going in.

It's so incredibly important to bring it back to life.

But having spent so much time

creating this extraordinary family home...

I just don't think it's ever looked this good.

Service!

...and running a wedding and events business...

CHEERING

...they haven't had many chances to explore France.

But now, with their chateau almost complete.

Honestly, I can't...

You're happy. It's exactly right.

...Dick and Angel are hitting the road...

It does feel like an adventure, darling girl.

...to explore their adopted home of France...

My girl's captain! Whoa!

Oh, thank you. You must be French. Of course.

...uncovering its wonders...

Somebody's made a man-made mountain of salt. It's phenomenal!

Flamingos. In France.

I did not expect it to be gold.

That's properly gold.

...and getting off the beaten track...

I promised you adventure.

...in their 1950s 4CV.

Come on, my wee beauty. Come on, little baby.

This time, they're in search of the lost region of Gascony.

I love how beautiful this is.

Today, only a few remember its traditional ways...

Aah, this is magic.

...but if you know where to look...

That is spectacular.

...it's a place full of surprises...

It's raining juice!

...extraordinary food...

Oh, my goodness me.

...and a unique spirit.

Delicious. Oh, yeah.

SHOUTING I've have no idea what's going on.

Oui! Non! ANGEL LAUGHS

That is so French!

This is gorgeous.

Look at all those sunflowers.

Ready for harvest.

This landscape reminds me of when we first ever...

Our first time ever in France. Yeah.

Well, that's going back, innit, kiddo? I know.

The ancient land of Gascony

has largely remained gloriously untouched by industry or tourism

for centuries.

I've never seen Gascony on a map.

It's not on a map. It doesn't exist any more.

Gascony may no longer exist on a modern map,

but until the 15th century,

almost everything from the Pyrenees in the south

to the Bay of Biscay in the west was Gascony.

Today, the locals are proud of their Gascon heritage.

The whole of this area, this was part of England.

What, Gascony? Literally, it was part of England.

You're kidding me. No. That's crazy, isn't it?

Gascony became part of England in the 1100s

when the Duchess of Aquitaine married the King of England.

The French fought and reclaimed the land,

waging lengthy sieges.

For protection, people built fortified hilltop towns

known as bastides.

You feel the history driving around here, don't you?

Today, Dick and Angel are visiting

the historic walled city of Lectoure...

...and are taking advantage of its high vantage point.

How about that? That is spectacular.

We are really up on the hill, aren't we?

As you drove up, it just felt very majestic.

And actually, it feels very agricultural when you look out.

Gascony is all about food.

The thing about this part of the world - you know ducks? Yeah.

They eat it all. Beak to the end of the feet.

They eat the lot. Yeah. OK?

So they're not sort of going, "Oh, lean meat only." Yeah.

It's the whole sort of everything on the table is there to be enjoyed.

I like it. I love the sound of it.

Whether it's the food or the pace of life,

the area boasts one of the country's highest life expectancies.

I want to know how they do it. I'd like some of it in our life!

Gascony likes to do things its own way,

and ever since the English left the region

Les Gascons have fiercely protected their unique heritage.

And, as Dick and Angel know,

some of that heritage doesn't have to be found in a museum.

Wow. Look at this place.

Come on, girl. Get your shopping bag out.

The beautiful 14th century Chateau d'Armagnac

was once home to the Counts of Armagnac.

Now it's a world-class antiques market that anyone can visit,

but you might be surprised by what you find inside.

I'm really glad we've got the old car here

because we can't fit much in it.

This magnificent building can still divulge secrets

about the area's past.

Look, look, look, look, look.

I reckon that's for Armagnac.

And I bet you that'll be an original Armagnac bottle.

Armagnac is the world's oldest brandy.

There's no way you'd think that was made in a factory.

Feel the weight, feel the weight.

Oh. That was surprising. Compared to our ones that shatter,

the little light ones, that's solid. Yeah.

Look at that, somewhere beaut... Perfect, to put your...

Oh, I love it.

This hand-blown bottle has a traditional push-up base

that helped provide strength and stability,

allowing it to stand on a table without wobbling.

That is very beautiful. Right. That... Gorgeous.

I'm going to have that. Good choice.

Early birthday pressie. ANGEL CHUCKLES

Bonjour. Bonjour. Bonjour, monsieur.

Bonjour, monsieur.

Oh, look. Oh, ho, ho, yes.

How did you spot them before me?

My darling, you're going to be happy for the next hour, aren't you? Gosh.

Just looking through these? Mmm. I love them so much.

This is beautiful French linen.

It is so, so, so stunning.

Just look at the work that's gone into that.

I've always always wanted to do that. Hand-stitched?

I just feel like I never got the time.

Someone in someone's family

would have spent a long time just quietly, peacefully...

Right. I'll leave you to choose this and keep walking.

ANGEL LAUGHS

When travelling, there's nothing Dick and Angel enjoy more

than cooking the local cuisine.

That's heavy.

And Dick has his eye on this contraption.

This, it's a little hand mincer, just for mincing meat.

I'm going to cook duck for Angela, so this may come in useful.

That's nice.

It would be rude not to take that one.

Someone spent a lot of time doing that.

My heaven!

From a bottle of the region's unique brandy

to the delicately embroidered French linen

that would have been a prized possession of French households

since the 10th century,

the antiques and artefacts sold here are a window into Gascony's past.

This whole place is stunning. I mean, honestly,

it's a good job we don't live round the corner.

Onwards and upwards.

With their Gascon treasures safely stored

it's time to adventure deeper into the Gascony countryside.

Outside of Gascony's towns, hotels are few and far between,

but locals do rent out their homes,

like this gemDick and Angel have found.

Have a look at this.

Woo, woo, woo, woo!

This place is just so charming, isn't it?

It just comes across as having been here forever.

I'm loving all the shutters and the colour palette

and all the ivy trailing up. Let's have a look.

I'm not carrying luggage anywhere till we know where we're going!

LAUGHTER

This 300-year-old limestone farmhouse

and is set in one acre of picturesque gardens.

Wow!

I'm loving the age of this place.

Do you know? I just feel so at home here instantly.

Look at that floor.

It reminds me of the kitchen down at... It's been worn over years.

Exactly what I thought.

You see it's all the stone, this place is just built to last.

I could cook in this kitchen.

This is lovely, isn't it?

Look at the space. Space!

Oh, I'm liking this!

What is that? Whatever it is, I actually need one.

For hanging... Joints and meats and things, yeah.

And look at the tiles. They are like Delft tiles.

That's what inspired our kitchen.

This kitchen, I don't know, it makes me feel quite emotional.

It's like, it's why we moved to France.

Upstairs, the bedroom is appropriately named The Blue Moon.

Everything's blue. Wow!

Oh, it really is.

That makes sense, though, because there is woad in this area

and I think it's lovely, it's charming.

The distinctive blue, known as woad, is a natural dye

that has been made in this part of France for centuries.

Look at this.

I love how peaceful this is.

This beautiful farmhouse will be Dick and Angel's base

for the next few days while they explore the local delights.

But who knows what othere adventures today will bring?

The buildings are stunning, aren't they? Oh, my gosh.

Look at the palette though. Oh, the blue! Yeah!

That's a blue, isn't it, eh?!

It's possible to drive for miles and miles through the vast landscapes

passing nothing but beautiful farmhouses and wayside crucifixes,

but it always pays to keep your eyes peeled.

You never know when you might find something special.

Oh, look, there's something.

That's working for me.

The Gascon croustade is one of southwestern France's

most famous desserts - an Armagnac-soaked pastry.

Bonjour, bonjour.

Bonjour, bonjour! Bienvenue.

Merci!

Isabelle is a livestock farmer.

She's lived in Gascony all her life

and when she's not tending the animals, she's making croustade.

Look at that. That is a work of art, isn't it?

Oh, she's made them with her grandmother.

Ma grand-mere. This has got huge, by the way.

Oh, wow.

Next, Isabelle liberally applies duck fat.

Question.

Oui. Oui?

Oui. It's good for your health. Mais oui.

Variations of the dish exist throughout the southwest of France,

each region using different fillings and flavours,

but for a true croustade of Gascony it has to be Armagnac.

Non. There's no recipe book for this one.

The thinly stretched pastry is then sliced

and layer upon layer is placed in a pan

with a liberal sprinkling of Armagnac, sugar and duck fat

in between every sheet.

All I know is, if in doubt, you put on more Armagnac, more sugar.

Absolutely. Oh!

Oh, that was quite a gunk of that. That's a lot of onion. Of onion?

Armagnac. Armagnac.

It's the fumes! it's the fumes!

Decorated with apple,

it's then cooked for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

Ooh, ho, ho! Hooray!

Wow! look at that.

Oh, it's still a little bit warm. Crunchy.

It's more than a little bit warm - it's hot.

Voila!

Isabelle did say to go.

Mm! Impeccable.

Dick and Angel are enjoying their tranquil farmhouse

in deepest Gascony.

You can't really get much more idyllic than this.

It's so, so peaceful.

And, you know, I never really get enough time to sit back

and do embroidery.

And that's why I'm not very good.

This is beautiful French linen.

It is so, so, so stunning.

This is the one that I will aspire to.

Now this one, I think, yeah, maybe,

it's probably had its day, you know?

But if I get an A and a D on here,

it will look like brand-new.

Right, start with my A.

If I make a mistake it don't matter because it's all going to be gone.

How you doing, gorgeous?

Hello, baby.

Oh, you look very nice.

I'm just chilling. Do you need any coffee? How are you doing?

No, I'm good, thank you.

Don't look. Bye.

Don't look. I can't see from here!

Now I've got started,

I'm essentially doing like an overhand stitch

maybe a few thousand times.

And at the end of it, it's going to create something special

for us to keep.

Dick and I always talk about this slower pace of life

and we're in Gascony,

and I think this is kind of what it feels like.

As lovely as it is to slow down,

Angel is dying to find out more about the very distinctive colour

of blue that her and Dick have seen everywhere.

So They're heading to the town of Lupiac,

and although it's best known for being the birthplace

of the real-life D'Artagnan, Angel has other plans.

Ha, ha, ha.

Here it is.

It was quite easy to find in the end. It's very blue.

Master dyer Denise is keeping the secrets of woad alive.

Have fun!

And her pop-up workshop teaches locals and tourists alike

how to use the natural blue dye,

and Angel is keen to try it on her newly embroidered linens.

I'm so excited to meet you, honestly. Thank you.

I'm a bit obsessed with woad.

It's a whole total different blue

and it's one of the rarest blues that,

whatever you put it on it becomes a different colour. Yeah.

Each fabric has its own blue. It takes it differently. Exactly.

We call that ennoblements.

It ennobles your fabric. It makes it beautiful.

That's why we can do 10,000 blues and never have the same.

It's magical.

In the 14th century the woad plant was cultivated all over

this part of France.

Its distinctive dye clothed kings and revolutionised fashion.

When you change something's colour with woad

it just brings it back to life.

It can resist centuries of wash and wear.

Nothing will take it off. Touch this.

OK. Now, what does it feel like?

It feels like a rock.

That's the pigment... That's the pigment.

...before it's crushed.

And can you imagine that it's coming from a green leaf?

This is the bit that blows my mind.

We call this blue gold because it is so valuable.

Woad from this part of France would have travelled all over Europe.

Even the Three Musketeers' famous blue tunics

would almost certainly have been dyed with woad.

I've got this linen here and I've done this myself.

Is it possible to dye them? Sure.

Very delicately.

ANGEL GASPS

Oh, my goodness. And it's turning green. Open it up.

This is magic. All the way in.

And then you can let it loose. Just let it go? Yes.

OK, so... Push it in with the stick, it doesn't go in by itself.

Whilst Angel gets stuck in...

...Dick is out on the hunt for dinner...

...and he hopes the commune of Auch has exactly what he needs.

This butcher stocks meat from across Gascony,

but Dick's after the king of Gascon fare.

So I'm going to be cooking some duck for Angela

but also you never pass by the opportunity

for having a good look in a butchers.

In Gascony, they eat all the duck -

the tongue, the livers, the hearts.

Le canard entire, s'il vous plait. C'est grand.

That's the way to buy your duck.

You want to take them out?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, please.

You don't mind getting your hands a bit blue? No. OK.

It'd be a pleasure.

After around ten minutes,

it's time to see how the linens have reacted to the dye.

Let me check it in the surface.

Don't bring it out until we're sure,

otherwise it's going to oxidise too quickly.

Mmm, that smell.

Here it is. Oh, there we are. Fantastic.

Let me just put this to the side. Right. Yeah.

And take it out and hang it up over there, behind you.

Wow. It's very good.

Thank you.

As soon as the linens touch the air the dye begins to oxidise

and the colour begins to change.

Look at the difference already. Blowing my mind.

This is literally just changing in front of my eyes. Oh, yeah.

At first the linens come out green

but the ancient blue of the woad takes just minutes to appear.

Denise, I'm going to remember this moment always.

Being here with you, your passion,

watching it literally change colour,

I'm never, ever going to forget that. Thank you.

That touches me very much, because it's what I want to transmit.

With a passion.

When you make something beautiful, it's so enriching.

It just makes your life beautiful.

Just, thank you so much, I've got a memory here, here, here...

It's been perfect. Can we hug?

Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. My pleasure.

Back at the farmhouse,

Dick is putting that magnificent kitchen to good use.

Do you know - I've only just noticed the neck and the head.

The legs are going to be used.

We've got the breasts to use, We've got the neck to stuff.

Don't look. I'm not looking. I'm not looking.

Well, I'm going to make you a drink.

Gascon cuisine isn't afraid to use parts of the duck

that might normally be disgarded, like stuffing the neck.

Have you heard of pousse rapiere?

Rapiere is rapier, sword.

I was chatting to the ladies at woad today

and I was joking and saying, "Who wants a drink?"

And they said to me "Pousse rapiere,"

and I've never, ever heard of this.

It's an orange flavoured Armagnac mixed with sparkling wine.

Mmm!

Whoa, that's lovely.

There's so much fat in that.

Oh, but it tastes so good.

That's the beauty of duck.

Carcass is going to go in for roasting. Yep.

My fat bits and skin are being kept for quackling. Yep.

My legs are for confit-ing.

Aah.

I've put breast fillets into our stuffed neck. Oh, yes.

I've got the little pieces... Yeah.

I'm going to mince them, so my duck is used.

OK. Mincing time.

This is where we find out whether or not the mincer was a good buy.

And the answer is yes.

Wasting nothing,

Dick stuffs the fillets and minced meat into the neck.

Can't overfill this, because if I overfill it it'll pop.

Oh, my goodness me.

What's lovely even at this point,

is it doesn't look like a neck.

Do you remember the first time I made you, um... Heart?

Stuffed heart. Do you know what it looked like?

It looked like a heart.

That doesn't look like a neck.

In we go.

While the neck roasts on a bed of carrots for 50 minutes...

...Angel can display her hand-dyed handiwork...

...then this traditional Gascon meal can be served.

Hope you're hungry. There you go, girl.

Whole Gascon duck. ANGEL GASPS

Stuffed duck neck with gravy and local vegetables.

That looks amazing.

I'm just about to put my napkin on my knee and get started

and I just spotted my napkin. How slow am I?

These are the ones you did? Yeah.

I love it. It has been quite a day.

A very, very special day.

Here we go.

Going in for the first slice.

Now I have to be a little bit...

...proud of the fact that does look nice, doesn't it?

Honestly?

Darling, I think this is some of your finest work.

Oh, my goodness.

Mm.

It's the best duck I've ever had.

I like it!

While Dick and Angel have taken to the rural Gascon life

like ducks to water, they're mixing things up

with a visit to the jewel in the crown of southwestern France,

the city of Bordeaux.

Stunning. It is good, isn't it?

Whilst it's world renowned for its exquisite imposing architecture

and traditional wines,

Dick can't help but take in some of the innovative engineering.

Have you spotted what's different about the trams?

No.

No cables, no overhead wire, no electrics. Hey, yes! Yeah.

What they do is they hide the power under the ground,

so some places under the ground

but then they can link in above the ground,

so it's good engineering and it makes it prettier.

Well, Bordeaux is all about the beauty, isn't it?

The Garonne River curls through Bordeaux

and helped give the city its nickname of Port de la Lune.

That is lovely.

This is the crescent shape,

so the Harbour of the Moon,

and the moon is a symbol that is actually very important to Bordeaux.

I've seen the crescent shape everywhere.

The crescent which can be seen throughout Bordeaux

is said to represent the shape of the river

as it weaves through the city.

This was the biggest way into France as a harbour,

second only to London in Europe.

Looking out there now,

just look at the stunning architecture here.

There was money here, you can tell,

and if you sort of like look in your mind's eye you can nearly see

loads of boats here, moored up everywhere.

You can nearly sort of go back in time.

Bordeaux has worked hard to preserve its past.

But on the city's Right Bank,

there's an area that is truly embracing change.

The contrast is quite exciting.

Well, this was an old set of barracks.

The Darwin Centre, a former 19th century military barracks,

has become a space for urban artists and innovative start-ups.

There's a real mixture of the commercial and the start-up,

isn't there? Yeah, there's a couple of really big brands

but they're all very ethical.

Skate parks to housing to organic coffee -

Darwin feels inspirational and creative.

There's a tattooed, half-naked man by a sewing machine.

Look away, look away.

But this is what life's about, it's all these different things.

North of the city,

the Garonne River merges with Dordogne,

and if you follow this river east, historic castles line its banks.

Here, Dick is keen to find out more about a pioneering project

that hopes to breathe new life into the river.

And it all started with a product more commonly associated

with the Caspian Sea.

Caviar from this region.

Wow, that is a treat. Wow.

I've only had real caviar like a handful of times in my lifetime.

Caviar isn't commonly connected with France

but over time the production of caviar has increased

to the point that this region is now one of the largest caviar producers

in the world.

So has this caviar come from a sturgeon?

This has come from a sturgeon.

In the olden days - and I'm going back 100 years here, yeah -

that river... Yeah. Sturgeon used to love living in there.

Apparently the story goes that there was an exiled Russian princess...

Right. ..and the locals, they were catching the sturgeon

and they were whipping them out of the water, and she watched them

ripping them and throwing all the eggs away. Argh!

All the eggs away and just eating the meat.

And she said, "No, no, no, no! This is all wrong.

"The eggs are the best part of it

"and where I come from it's really special."

So with that started the growth of the caviar business

in this part of the world.

How do you know this stuff? It's incredible.

I'm old!

Due to overfishing,

the wild sturgeon was driven almost to extinction.

Today, the region's caviar is farmed.

Have you ever seen a sturgeon? I don't think so.

I know how to remedy that.

Just a short distance away, in these unassuming sheds,

a group of scientists are on a mission

to reintroduce the fish back into the wild.

Combien de sturgeon?

Alors, ici deux cents quarante sturgeon.

240. Ah! Ha-ha!

And by special appointment,

Dick and Angel have arranged to meet Vanessa Lauronce,

who, for the last 20 years, has been working to re-establish the sturgeon

population in the wild.

Inside the station

all the sturgeon are bred from the last surviving wild Gascon fish.

Oh, my goodness me!

Got your torch? Got my torch.

Used to deep dark waters,

the sturgeon need to be kept in almost complete darkness.

Staggeringly, this fish has remained almost unchanged

for 100 million years.

They're huge!

Ca c'est grande!

They are living dinosaurs.

This is amazing.

I've only ever seen a stuffed sturgeon.

How old are these?

Oui, dans la riviere?

1.8 million babies went into the wild! Oui.

That is wonderful.

This next generation of sturgeon will add to that number

and over time, gradually,

the sturgeon will re-establish themselves in the wild.

And we can feed them, if you want. You can do it.

Oui!

Little worms. They are shrimps. Shrimps! Yeah.

Just put it in slowly? Yeah? Yeah.

They're all going to come up and say hello.

Oh, wow.

Adult sturgeon have been spotted in the Dordogne recently,

proof that the project is working.

When you discovered there were two big sturgeon in the river,

did you have a party? No. No?! Pourquoi, no?!

You must have felt so proud.

You've made a difference in the world. It's incredible. Yeah.

Well done. Congratulations.

That is very important.

I'm happy!

Driving through Gascony,

you could be forgiven for thinking that not much happens here.

But there's no better place to be if, like Dick and Angel,

you're after the world's oldest brandy, Armagnac.

The spirit of Armangac. That's what we're after.

Oh, you can taste things in here. Come on, let's go and find out.

This small family business is run by cellar master, Vincent Cornu.

Hello, bonjour. Bonjour.

Encantada ages, bottles and distributes this 700-year-old spirit

for local producers across the region.

Enchante. Welcome.

Je m'appelle Dick, et ma femme Angela.

Vincent. Merci.

HE INHALES L'aroma!

Oui, oui, oui.

Smell the Armagnac, yeah? Is that the Armagnac? Yeah, yeah.

How many families do you still for?

Maybe now at Encantada sell about 25, 20, 30 domains.

Different domains. It feels like a club.

Yeah, it's a club, yeah. It's a big family.

France's oldest brandy is distilled only once,

unlike its twice-distilled cousin, cognac.

No additives are permitted at any stage from grape to bottle.

This makes Armagnac arguably the most natural brandy in France.

Oui. 700 years. Yeah.

Uh... maybe. Maybe?!

Non! Non, no!

En fait... non. Gah. Non.

Yes. Non!

You're a funny man, huh?

It turns out Armagnac may have been invented when the English ruled here

but Vincent is having none of it. Enough said.

Time to have a taste from a freshly tapped Gascon oak barrel.

Oh, he's sucking it, he's already started drinking.

He's started drinking. Whoa!

Unfortunately for Dick, he's driving.

It's OK? Yeah.

I'll hold that for you. Just for...

It's for me, huh? Yeah, I know. I know, I know.

Look, the colour.

Oh, the colour, c'est magnifique. Oui, c'est magnifique.

Magnifique.

Do you want to drive? You can drive and I can actually...

Maybe now it's a little hot.

I am so missing out.

Les epices? Yes. Most definitely.

Maybe a little orange? Yes.

Keep swirling it, keep swirling it.

Oh. He's going for it! He's going for it.

Delicious.

Enough. Enough. He's just teasing me.

This is not funny! This is not fair!

Do you want to have a go? You can smell it, darling.

No, you finish your testing

and I'll just buy a bottle.

Thank you for letting us into your club.

GLASSES CLINK Cheers.

It's very powerful.

I don't know if I'm going to very good for the rest of the day.

Every year in late summer, the vineyards of Gascony come alive.

Passed from generation to generation,

the secrets of Armagnac have survived for over 700 years...

Let me catch you up.

...and are at the heart of the traditional Gascon way of life.

Bonjour, bonjour. Bonjour, bonjour.

Oh, my gosh. Look at all the kids. Bonjour. Pardon.

Vincent. Ca va? You're late!

Pardon, pardon.

Vincent has invited Dick and Angel to this vendage,

the annual grape harvest...

OK, let's go.

Don't need gloves. Don't need gloves.

Don't need those. Get rid of these.

Right, shall we... We'd better get started otherwise we'll get grief.

But Dick and Angel are not here to watch -

they're going to get stuck in.

Oh, look at that. They're beautiful.

I would expect that to be all gold-plated

and on a wall somewhere.

Oh, nice.

Every bunch of grapes must be checked,

and have the leaves removed.

Be careful because Vincent's going to check our bucket

to make sure we're good. Oh, yeah. Well, I'm being quite thorough.

PEOPLE CHANT IN FRENCH

I've no idea what's going on! CHEERING

Oui! Non! ANGEL LAUGHS

If you're visiting Gascony in late summer and speak to the locals,

vendages like this are always looking for helping hands.

I'm loving the fact it feels like the whole community together here,

doesn't it? Yeah. It feels different because I think it's a community

as opposed to people coming in and maybe doing

someone that they don't know's big vineyard. It does.

I feel quite lucky to be here and picking grapes.

LAUGHTER

Come on, we've got to fill our bucket up otherwise we'll get grief.

We are, but I'm... Go faster!

Vincent. Bonjour. Ca va?

Quality? Yeah. C'est bien? Comme ca?

Bien, comme ca. Oh, phew. C'est le pressure.

They look like young vines.

Three years. Three years old. Three years.

And the first harvest? Yeah, yeah.

We are very happy for today for the first harvest.

It's yours? Yeah.

Yeah! Parfait!

And today is friends and family and partners. It's a party today.

It's a party. It feels like a party. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a party.

It's like family and friends.

Yeah, it's a party, yeah.

Vincent's having a ball.

That is so French.

ANGEL SHRIEKS

Move out of the way. This is a war zone.

They've got the advantage that they started drinking first thing.

I know.

Oui, merci.

Oh, how fun is this?

Merci! Merci.

They're good grapes.

It's incredible to think that the people of Gascony

have been harvesting like this for centuries.

With the vines bare, the grapes are driven a short distance

to a local farm.

Here, the five tons of grapes - Vincent's first harvest -

will be pressed and begin its transformation into Armagnac.

The start of anything, though, it's full of excitement.

You know, a little bit of worry.

And this, for him, it's happening now

and he probably dreamt about this for such a long time.

Then he has to wait 10, 15, 20 years

before the actual Armagnac is there for sale.

That long wait starts here.

Hey!

First the grapes are hoovered into the mechanical presser.

Look at the quantity to come out! Oh, goodness me!

The juice is then collected below ground before fermentation begins.

We got enough juice coming, girl?

It's raining juice.

Ang, look.

How many years of grape bashing has this done?

For Vincent, this is a special moment,

but he's still only at the beginning of a long, long process,

it will be distilled and sealed in oak barrels to age.

We have discovered in Gascony everything takes time to be good.

And all the stars have got to align.

Yeah, yeah!

Because they've all got to be good for the magic.

They're working for the next generation. Yeah.

That sums it up for me. Yeah.

Back at the vineyard, the focus has shifted from harvesting to drinking.

All that remains is to cook lunch.

And in Gascony, it has to be duck.

Whoa!

Mon moustache!

Whoa!

IRONIC CHEERS

APPLAUSE

It's all go. They're ready. They're hungry.

I think lunch could be the end of the working day.

And by the amount of Armagnac and wine being drunk,

I think it better be the end of the day!

The duck is being served with Tarbais beans,

a creamy white bean and a Gascon delicacy.

Bon appetit. APPLAUSE

It's the start. It's the start.

It's the beginning.

THEY CHEER AND TOAST

For Vincent, this is just the first step in creating his own Armagnac.

But for Dick and Angel, it's the end of their adventure.

How about that? Oh, wow!

That is spectacular.

Incredible food...

That looks magnificent.

Darling, I think this is some of your finest work.

...timeless traditions...

Thank you for letting us into your club.

GLASSES CLINK

...and breathtaking nature.

1.8 million babies went into the wild. Oui.

That is wonderful.

But what makes Gascony unique, is its people.

CHEERING

The whole idea of coming to Gascony,

you know, they eat well, they drink well,

they live a long time, they're healthy, yeah?

I don't think they have any stress.

And I think every time we've met somebody,

they've been thinking slowly and thinking about the future.

This is 20 years in the making before you can have a drink of it.

That's a different mindset. Completely.

And the passion, love, family, just everything.

I mean, you can't help but be inspired by it.

Gascony doesn't exist - it doesn't exist on a map -

however, there's a feeling with everybody we've met,

it does exist in here, and they're really living it.

It's the spirit of Gascony.

GLASSES CLINK

Next time, Auvergne.

That's a volcano.

An area full of adventure...

The things you get me into.

It'll all be worth it, I promise you.

...traditional, hearty cuisine...

Is this comfort food, or is this just good food?

It's good comfort food.

...and breathtaking views.

Look at this beautiful view.

Never mind the view, get the door open.

LAUGHTER

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