Vallabrègues

Vallabrègues
Town hall
Coat of arms
Vallabrègues
Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region Vallabrègues
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Gard
Arrondissement	Nîmes
Canton	Beaucaire
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jean-Marie Gilles
Area1	14.33 km2 (5.53 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	1,298
• Density	91/km2 (230/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	30336 / 30300
Elevation	4–24 m (13–79 ft) (avg. 5 m or 16 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Street in Vallabrègues

Vallabrègues is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.

Geography

Vallabrègues is the only commune of the Gard department located on the left bank of the Rhône River. It is located opposite the part of the territory of the commune of Beaucaire close to the confluence of the Gardon.

Its closest town is Tarascon, where the Festival of the Tarasque monster is held every year on the last Sunday of June. Vallabrègues is about a 20 minute drive from Tarascon. It is also near the towns of Nîmes, Arles and Avignon.

The area enjoys around 200 days of sunshine a year, and has a dry but warm Mediterranean climate.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	1,078	—
1968	1,082	+0.4%
1975	918	−15.2%
1982	960	+4.6%
1990	1,016	+5.8%
1999	1,197	+17.8%
2008	1,298	+8.4%

Features

Vallabrègues has a small dock for boats traveling on the Rhône River and has tennis courts, a swimming pool, and the "Lac de Vallabrègues", a small pond surrounded by grass and a trail for walking.

The mayor's office is located alongside the kindergarten-primary school, and next to the post office and local church that surround the town square where markets are often held on Saturdays. There is one main supermarket, the "Coccinelle" (lit. "ladybug"), and also the traditional South of France open-air markets on the weekends.

People enjoy playing pétanque, or boules in the sandy areas under shady trees near the town center.

The streets of Vallabregues are too narrow for cars, and most villagers get around by bicycle.

Culture

Basket weaving is traditional and unique to Vallabrègues. They hold a festival every year and home-made baskets are displayed in front of houses. There are many shops selling baskets and even a museum commemorating the unique tradition of the village.

Vallabrègues used to be the biggest basket-producer in France, back when baskets were widely in use for transport, carrying etc. The village's proximity to the Rhône River ensured that willows grew near the village that were used for basket weaving after soaking. Nowadays, though, basket-weaving is fast disappearing. This is why, in 1990, Vallabrègues decided to hold a festival and parade every year bringing basket-makers from all over Europe in a giant fair that gives an identity to an otherwise seemingly typical Provence town. However, Vallabregues is also captured in time because of the 2003 floods, "inondation" in French. Since then no new building is permitted in the town, because even though there are sophisticated warning systems to keep occupants safe the town is almost directly opposite where the river Gard enters the Rhone.

See also

• Communes of the Gard department

References

• INSEE