Further south, outside Auch, Château-les-Charmettes (21 Route de Duran; 05 62 62 10 10, www.chateaulescharmettes.com ; doubles from £133) is a 19th-century manor house that has been repainted a sort of edible orange. It has sumptuous grounds, large salons and some of the fluffiest, most attractive bedrooms in the French southwest.

To eat: this is the land of the duck and the goose, so don’t stint on the foie gras. (Its production, especially by smaller farmhouse producers, is not as cruel as you’ve heard. Believe me, I’ve watched.) Duck confit is also a favourite, and you’ll certainly bump into cassoulet. Meaty red wines from nearby Madiran will do the trick. Try a floc (Armagnac and grape juice) before the meal, and as much real Armagnac as you consider reasonable afterwards.

The region’s best table is Bernard Bach’s Le Puits St Jacques, at Pujaudran, to the west of Toulouse (Place de la Mairie; 05 62 07 41 11, www.lepuitsstjacques.com ; menus from £46). This is especially the case on a warm evening, when you may take to the terrace for duck (naturally), sea bass, home-grown veg and a hefty feelgood factor.

Over in Condom – please, every joke imaginable has already been made – La Table des Cordeliers colonises a 13th-century vaulted chapel, which gives a spiritual element to turbot and red mullet (Rue des Cordeliers; 05 62 68 43 82, www.latabledescordeliers.fr ; menus from £33).

The smart guide to Gascony

Francophile Anthony Peregrine's six favourite regions - here he plots the perfect break in Gascony

• The smart guide to Var, Provence

The smart guide to Burgundy

Francophile Anthony Peregrine's six favourite regions - here he plots the perfect break in Burgundy

• Peregrine on the road in Burgundy

• Painting the town Burgundy

The smart guide to Normandy

Francophile Anthony Peregrine's six favourite regions - here he plots a perfect break in Normandy

Related Internet Links

• Peregrine's France: the Sunday Times francophile reveals all

Related Links

• The smart guide to Var, Provence

My favourite, though, is Bernard Daubin’s Chez Simone, in Montréal-du-Gers (3 Rue Aurensas; 05 62 29 44 40; menus from £15). Under a winning veneer of modernity beats a proper Gascon heart.

Getting there: Calais to Auch by car is about 10½hr nonstop. The most convenient airports are Toulouse and Pau. Both cities are served by TGV trains.

HOW TO GET TO FRANCE

Train:it’s fast, comfortable and not as pricey as you might think. Returns from London St Pancras to Paris (2hr 15min) cost from £59; to Strasbourg (5hr 11min) from £89; and to Avignon (5hr 30min) from £109. You can book through tickets from the UK with Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com ) orRail Europe (0844 848 4070, www.raileurope.co.uk ), the UK arm of the French rail company SNCF.

Tunnel and ferry: the quickest way across the Channel is with Eurotunnel (0870 535 3535, www.eurotunnel.com ), which speeds from Folkestone to Calais in 35 minutes; prices start at £98 return for a car and passengers.

The short ferry crossing from Dover to Calais, Boulogne or Dunkirk can take as little as 50 minutes by catamaran or up to two hours by regular ferry. Choose less social hours and, even in summer, returns start at just £50 for a car and up to five passengers (on busy weekends, expect to pay at least £100). Operators include P&O (0871 664 5645, www.poferries.com ), SeaFrance (0871 423 7119, www.seafrance.com ), Norfolkline (0870 870 1020, www.norfolkline.com ) and SpeedFerries (0871 222 7456, www.speedferries.com ).

Or consider a crossing to Normandy. They don’t take as long as you might think – 2hr 15min from Poole to Cherbourg, for instance. Returns in peak season start at £292 for a car and four passengers with Brittany Ferries (0871 244 0744, www.brittany-ferries.co.uk ).

For the best deals, try Direct Ferries (0871 222 3312, directferries.com ).

Driving: distances and tolls are the things to watch – both can be bigger than you bargained for. Go to www.viamichelin.co.uk or www.theaa.com , which will tot them up for you.

If that’s too much of a slog, but you want the car, you could consider Motorail, which runs from Calais to six destinations in southern France. Journey times start at about 11 hours (overnight), with one-way fares from about £360, including the car and up to six passengers in a private couchette. Book with Rail Europe (as above).

Plane:there are plenty of options, with flights from more than 25 UK airports to a similar number of French airports. Carriers that are particularly strong on regional routes include Ryanair (www.ryanair.com ), Flybe (www.flybe.com ), Air France (0870 142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk ), Jet2 (www.jet2.com ) and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com ).

To find out who flies where, and to track down cheap fares, visit www.skyscanner.net , www.airlinedestinations.co.uk and www.jumblefly.com .

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