The Wild Beauty
It is aboard a flat-bottomed barge, typically used to transport goods, that we are to sail down the Loire river. Crosswind, the local mariner, tells the story of the river the same way it was told to him by his elders, the same way he is now passing it on to future generations. Today, others too are trying to find answers, laying the foundations for green tourism. Issues of ecology and land-use management are touched on.

Heritage revisited
The Saumurois region of France is one where castles and ancient dwellings are regular features of the landscape. This raises many questions. Should they be conserved as they are, should they be restored, should the past and present be encouraged to cohabit, or should as much money be made out of them as possible? For the State, the town and private owners alike, the problem of conserving their heritage is a challenging one.

A town named horse
The Cadre Noir organization has trained cavalry officers in riding for generations. Real and would-be aristocrats have represented the values of cavalry, namely those of rectitude and panache – values which each Frenchman and woman would like to think of as their own. The army replaced the horse with armor-plated vehicles, and Cadre Noir became the National Riding School. As elsewhere in France, changes have had to be adapted to.

Reading between the vines
A series of meetings with wine growers where each of them sheds light on the French savoir-faire handed down from generation to generation. Weaving between tradition and modernity, the one thing all these people have in common is an ´art for life´. The festive aspect of the Book and Wine Fair confirms this. French and foreign writers alike air their views about a shared love of literature, wine and the French identity, at once united and multi-faceted.

One crop may hide another
The Saumur region has in the past kept its vintage name ´Garden of France´ with a market garden tradition which is ongoing, but what is the situation today? Several families and their neighbors guide us on our way through a visit to a France ´on the move´. In their own way, each of them is an integral part of a multi-faceted rural lifestyle. From the passing-down of heritage within the family to a company working to reintegrate those on the margins of society, from the immigrant family of agricultural workers to the young people in depressed areas of town, from one young couple´s plans for a rural dwelling to the international success of one of Saumur´s own children, the florist.