Is the Tap Water Safe to Drink at La Flânerie?
Yes, absolutely — the water at La Flânerie is entirely safe to drink, straight from the kitchen tap. As everywhere in France, our water here in Euzet-les-Bains (30360) is treated and rigorously tested, supplied by REAAL, the public water authority for Alès Agglomération, so do fill your carafe with confidence and leave the bottled water on the shelf.
Do expect it to be on the hard side, though. This is limestone country through and through, and the local water carries a fair amount of calcaire — you will likely notice a light chalky film in the kettle before too long, and it is why we keep a bottle of white vinegar under the sink for descaling. It is nothing to worry about, simply a mineral-rich character to the water that is entirely typical of the Gard, and rather fitting given the village's own watery past.
There is a rather lovely irony to the question, actually. Take the short walk round the corner from La Flânerie into the old village, and you will find yourself on rue Dr Perrier — one of the main roads leading into Euzet's historic centre, and no coincidence of a name. Euzet-les-Bains was once a fashionable spa town: mineral springs, discovered in the seventeenth century, drew curistes from across France to "take the waters" at the village's thermal establishment. From 1875 until his death in 1912, that establishment was directed by a certain Docteur Perrier — yes, that Perrier. Before his name became shorthand for the world's most famous sparkling water (bottled at Vergèze, a little further south), he spent decades right here in Euzet, tending to guests who had travelled for our own local springs.
The Romans, ever discerning about their water, knew this corner of the Gard was blessed too. Just down the road in Uzès, the Fontaine d'Eure fed the mighty Pont du Gard aqueduct, carrying fresh spring water some 50 kilometres to Nîmes — an engineering marvel still standing, more or less as built, two thousand years later. Good water, it seems, has always been something of a local speciality.
So: drink up, straight from the tap. We can only promise it won't be quite as fizzy as the bottled stuff that carries our street's namesake.
Out and about in the villages, it's worth knowing the phrase "eau potable" — this simply means drinking water, and you'll see it (or its opposite, eau non potable) on signs at public fountains across the region. Most village fountains are perfectly safe, but the sign is there for a reason, so it's one of those small bits of French worth having in your pocket. When in doubt, our own tap is always the reliable option.
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