Taxi Bordeaux → Marmande

Marmande is an endearing town in the Lot-et-Garonne, a sub-prefecture nestled in the fertile Garonne valley, world-famous for its tomato — the Marmande Tomato, a ribbed and fleshy variety, is an iconic food of the South-West. The town has remarkable heritage that is often overlooked: the Notre-Dame church (Gothic, 13th-14th century) houses a magnificent Renaissance cloister, rare in Aquitaine, whose galleries open onto a garden of trimmed box hedges. The old quarter around the Place du Marché preserves half-timbered houses and 17th-century townhouses. The Garonne, flowing through the town, offers pleasant landscaped banks for walking. Marmande is also an excellent base for visiting the bastides of the Lot-et-Garonne, those medieval new towns founded in the 13th century by the kings of France and England: Miramont-de-Guyenne, Duras (remarkable Renaissance castle), Seyches. The Marmande area is great agricultural land: tomatoes, strawberries, kiwis (the Lot-et-Garonne is France's largest kiwi producer), ente plums and tobacco. The Tomato Festival (mid-August) is the major popular event: float parade, recipe competitions, tomato battle and three days of festivities. The wholesale fruit and vegetable trade makes Marmande an important regional economic centre, linking South-West producers to national markets.