When Jean Puech was France’s agriculture minister in the Balladur government (1993-5), he wanted to show off some of the attractions of the area around the village of Rignac (Aveyron), of which he was mayor, to his fellow European agriculture ministers. One such attraction is the tiny village of Belcastel, which is overlooked by a medieval castle and has a high-arched 600-year-old bridge over the Aveyron river, down which the occasional kingfisher streaks. The village has b