The area around Lalbenque in the Lot Valley is famous for its black Truffles.

The area around Lalbenque in the Lot Valley is famous for its black Truffles and there is a weekly Truffle market every year from December to mid March on a Tuesday afternoon. Stalls crowd the main street and adjacent streets and the air is fragrant with the earthy perfume of them.

There is also an annual truffle festival (Fête de la Truffe) and some years ago when I lived in the area I went to this. The festival is is held at the end of January and this year is on Sunday 30th starting at 10am so if you are going to be in the area why not pop along. The festival lasts for the whole day and the local restaurants all serve special truffle dishes for lunch. In the afternoon there are demonstrations of truffle hunting by the locals accompanied by their trusty truffle hunting pigs or dogs.

There is a prize for the best basket of truffles on display and two raffles which you can enter to win some truffles. Not a bad prize considering the price of truffles can run into hundreds of pounds per kilo!

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