Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

This week we look at Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and what it means,

Les Plus Beaux Villages began as recently as 1982 as a loosely bound association of around 60 French villages whose stated aims included promotion of their history and heritage, and the avoidance of 'certain pitfalls' including soul less museums and amusement parks.

The Association now embraces 153 villages throughout France, and this includes the villages of Auvillar, Bruniquel, Lauzerte, Monflanquin, Monpazier, Pujols-le-haut and St Cirq Lapopie, being the villages closest to the area where Halcyon Leisure properties are situated.( the departments of Lot, Lot-et-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne: Monflanquin is in Dordogne, but will be a familiar name to those driving south from Bergerac)


The villages' strategy is built around three values designed to raise awareness and promote tourism whilst protecting their heritage and history:  To gain acceptance as a 'Plus Beau Village' there is firstly a 30 point Quality plan that has to be satisfied, followed by an agreement to protect the village and support measures to promote the village and other Plus Beaux Villages by a number of means.

Market at Issigeac

Villages also undergo re-assessment every six years to ensure the aims and ethos of the Association are being maintained, and a village's membership could be suspended if the assessment determined that standards had dropped.

The Association has a variety of funding sources which are mainly Regional Governments in France, but private sponsorship has also been forthcoming from industry, and there are also schemes running with Michelin maps and other publishers.

This scheme has given rise to similar schemes in Wallonia (Belgium), Italy, Quebec and Japan, and these five schemes have formed the basis of an international organisation: Schemes in Romania. Germany, Spain, Korea and Russia are also affiliated but at this time not full members of the wider organisation.