LA VOULTE-SUR-RHÔNE
Commune in Ardèche
Population: 4,850
Notable figures: Lévis-Ventadour family (Counts of La Voulte), Jean-Jacques Dazemar (Imperial General), Gérard Mourou (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2018), Guy and Lilian Camberabero, Jean-Luc Averous (rugby).
Specialities: crique ardéchoise (potato pancake). Chestnut products.
Fruit from the Eyrieux Valley (high-quality peaches, apricots and cherries). Picodon (goat’s cheese typical of the Drôme and Ardèche).
Sport: La Voulte Sportif (rugby, French champions 1970), Handball Rhône Eyrieux Ardèche (National League 2). Events: Ardèche Marathon (late October).
Economy: the town has an industrial past. Iron mines, now exhausted, fuelled blast furnaces in the 19th century (Parc Baboin Jaubert). The decline of this industry was subsequently followed by the textile industry (weaving). Services and retail now dominate.
Culture and festivals: Festival des Kiosques à musique (summer), Crashmusette Festival, Puces de la Voulte (late March).
Heritage and tourism: Château de la Voulte, Chapel of the Princes. Saint-Vincent and Saint-Michel churches. Foundries. Giroud Fountain. Museum of Palaeontology. Printegarde Nature Reserve. Dolce Via (Europe’s best cycle route in 2020).
Labels: Sensitive Natural Area (La Boissine), Agenda 21 (sustainable development).
Websites: lavoultesurrhone.fr / patrimoine-ardeche.com
FOOD
Ardèche crique
A crique is a potato pancake cooked in a frying pan. In the Ardèche and Drôme regions, the traditional recipe involves grating raw potatoes, which are then seasoned (with salt, pepper and parsley), sometimes with one or more beaten eggs added, and cooked in a frying pan to form a pancake about a finger’s width thick.