About the Village

Everything is within a few minute walk of the house

There are two small but good supermarkets. The larger one, Spar, has good quality vegetables, fruit and fresh milk. There is a tabac opposite the church, we hope the bakery will re-open soon, two butcher’s shops and a pharmacy attached to the new health centre, not forgetting the café Globe conveniently placed at the end of our road. The Credit Agricole bank in Rue Faubourg has an external cash machine. There is a garage which is open for petrol 7 days a week and carries out servicing. Travelling vans such as the fishmonger arrive on different days to an announcement preceded by music on the village tannoy system. Tuchan

Art Nouveau Post Office

Swimming

There is a municipal swimming pool open in summer (small charge) and another pool at the camp site (free if you eat there) on the edge of the village towards Paziols called "la Pieriere " (see link below) which is a good placeto go if you like pizzas and salads.

Tuchan Pool in Summer

For a refreshing alternative to pool swimming there is a natural pool which can be found just before you go over the bridge into Paziols where the locals swim and picnic.

Art

Two artists, have made Tuchan their home and their studio which opened in 2008 is called Atelier ArtBonBon. Marco Grieser-Ronnevig produces very distintive paintings and sculptures whilst Eva Ronnevig produces ceramic work. Eight independent vignerons support local art in the area and you can find out more atArt Chais.

Cycling

Cycling is one of the favourite activities of the French and you will quite often see groups passing through the village. The Tour de France usually has a stage through Aude and further information can be found at  

Le Tour. There are many tracks through the vineyards and with a bit of effort you can cycle out of the valley via the Padern road and go further afield.  If you are feeling energetic you could follow the 86km route of the annual L'Enfer du Mont Tauch which ends with the climb to the top of Mt Tauch. One gents and one ladies mountain bike are provided at the house.

Restaurants

Tuchan has a number of places to eat. Both the Hotel Mont Tauch and Bodega del Tauch restaurants  are open all year. The Globe bar has a restaurant area and also serves meals in the small 'Place' opposite in the summer; Le Relais (holiday village) and La Pieriere (camp site) with entertainment in July/August and swimming pool on the edge of the village, have restaurants which do pizzas, salads etc. as well as full meals (May to Oct). Not forgetting the visiting pizza van which does pizzas in a wood oven (Thursday evenings around 18:30 hours in the Place de la Republique).

Other restaurants can be found in nearby villages, Le Reve d’Angele at Paziols and three restaurants are to be found in Cucugnan. Auberge du Vigneron, Auberge de Cucugnan and Auberge de la Table de Curé but our current favourite is Le Petit Clos at Cascatel.

Wine

The area is noted for its red wines. There are Caves at Tuchan, Paziols, Villeneuve , Cascatel, Padern and Cucugnan. The Mont Tauch Cave in Tuchan can offer a variety of red Fitou wines including oak aged as well white and rose wines of the area. The Mont Tauch Cave supplies Sainsburys, Tesco, Co-Op etc and the deserved reputation of the high quality of their wines, especially the Fitou, has made the village prosper. The Mont Tauch co-operative has recently undergone a facelift to establish a new visitor experience, tourist information and retail outlet. Muscat de Rivesaltes is a white dessert wine and Maury is a red dessert wine from the Tuchan Cave. Two independent wine-makers in Tuchan are Domaine de Rolland (he has an outlet just a few paces along from us) and Chateau Wialla. There are a number of independent Caves in the area such as Chateau Nouvelles just outside Tuchan (D611 north). Why not increase your enjoyment and knowledge of wine by taking a short course at Vinécole.