On French Riviera hillsides, the once-dominant Menton lemon gets squeezed by development
When the French Riviera town of Menton prepares to host its lemon festival each year, it needs more than 140 tons of citrus for the showy floats and park displays that attract thousands of spectators
MENTON, France — When the French Riviera town of Menton prepares to host its lemon festival each year, it assembles more than 140 tons of citrus to build the ornate floats and showy park displays that attract thousands to the Fete du Citron. But none of it is the actual Menton lemon, a prized variety whose fans included King Louis XIV, who enjoyed drinking its juice and bathing in its essential oils.
They’re too precious — and there aren’t enough of them, either.
“Honestly, we prefer that people taste our lemons rather than look at them on display,” said Marine Krenc, an events manager for Menton’s tourism office.
Menton was once a leading lemon-growing region in Europe, with a global reputation and exports as far as the United States and Russia in the 18th century. But that was before the French Revolution led to cancellation of laws that protected Menton from competition from other lemon-growing regions, and before the Riviera’s rise as a playground for tourists and the wealthy led to hotels and villas steadily displacing orchards and farmland.
These days, only 56 small producers still grow the high-end lemons, and some worry that a warming climate will add to their challenges in coming years.
When Pierre Ciabaud, a sixth-generation lemon-grower, was looking for a job that would support a family in the 1960s, he had to break with family tradition. He set up a hardware and appliance store to make ends meet. Now retired, he tends the family’s grove on one of the last remaining lemon hills overlooking the city of Menton and
Read more on abcnews.go.com
