Introduction

During the last half of the 20th century, the rapid growth of the French economy gradually brought benefits to the country districts of the South-West. Work away from the land became available to the many young people who had been the fruit of the government-sponsored baby boom of the 1950s.

Cheap loans encouraged young couples to move from old and often primitive family homes and to build themselves a new house. Older families, to escape the rigours and discomforts of their old but beautiful homesteads, moved into new homes, often built in their own farmyards. Sadly, many of the old houses were allowed to crumble into irreparable ruin. Modern kitchens began to replace the primitive cooking arrangements of the old farmhouse, modern cookers became a status symbol, accessories such as electric kettles, blenders and even the microwave became commonplace.