Narbonne

Thursday September 27, 2007

The wind (Mistral?) continues to howl, but it's the plummeting temperature that's more of a concern. We started off the morning in single digits and as I write this in Narbonne at noon, it hasn't gotten any better. Today is Tony & Jackie's opportunity to see Narbonne. The market was not quite as lively as last week, but still one of the better ones we've seen. Getting into the Internet cafe was a welcome respite from the weather. From here, we plan to go down the coast back towards Fraisse and see a few places like Guissan and Bages that we haven't visited. More in the next post. Hopefully I'll get some more pics added then.

Carcassone & Minervois

Wednesday September 26, 2007
Sorry! Still no pics.
Today was our return to Carcassonne with Tony & Jackie. The day started off promising weather-wise, but by the time we hit the autoroute there were rainbows everywhere, which was not necessarily a good thing. By the time we hit Carcassonne, the skies had started to leak and as we made our way to the centre of town, it started to pour. There seems to be something about Carcassonne that brings on the lousy weather every time we visit. The inclement weather did have the benefit of keeping some of the hordes away from the town.

After doing as much justice to the ancient town as we could, we decided to head out for Minervois country to taste some of their wine. As we hit the Midi Canal, the temp went up a little and the skies turned blue so we had an opportunity to have our pique nique. This narrow tree lined canal has a lot of pleasure craft on it as it winds its way through the French countryside. Try as we may, however, there was no wine tasting to be had in Minervois country. We went through many Minervois villages and lots of Minervois vineyards, but somehow we had avoided the wine country and found no possibilities of testing the terroir. By the time we’d gone through all the possible wine towns, we were in Narbonne and decided to head home. A stop at the Geant store on the edge of Narbonne allowed us the opportunity to purchase some Minervois for our own private tasting back in Fraisse. We also found, after looking long and hard, snails in a can, so when we got back to Fraisse, we finally made our escargots croustade – not a shabby feast. Before we got back to Frasse, however, we finally drove off the road towards a small sign advertising the Via Domitia, a 2nd century BC road that spanned from Beaucaire to the Pyrenees. There was a 50 m stretch of this road uncovered here, complete with its chariot wheel ruts. Finally, back in Fraisse, after our own Minervois tasting, another great meal and lively card games, we called it a day.

Cathar Country

Tuesday September 25, 2007

Another day of travels into Cathar Country makes us realize to what extreme ends the Cathars had gone to build in places that no-one (aka the Catholics) would ever find or even care about them, and leave them to practise their unique religion. Traveling in a car has also impressed upon us the area over which the Cathars had spread themselves and how difficult it must have been to get from site to site. Our first destination for today was Queribus. We left the climb to Tony & Jackie since we’d already done it. The day was clear and a good deal windier than our climb last week, but Tony & Jackie made out just fine. When they made their way back to the car, we decided that today might be the best day for a visit to one of the most important Cathar sites – Montsegur. This location is hugely remote, so it was a really good drive to get there and by that time the temp had fallen, the skies had filled and the wind continued to howl. We stopped before Montsegur for lunch in Puivert. Our pique nique plans were abandoned in favour of a restaurant here – good choice.
So…the climb to Montsegur. Challenging! The climb was steep with a very rough, irregular and fairly slippery path. Yesterday was a long uphill slug, but at least the road was a good surface. Today - not so much. This is easily the toughest climb yet and fortunately the last of this trip. But I’m proud to say that all of us made it to the summit and in pretty good time as well. The descent wasn’t any easier, but we did all right with no slips. We then headed for home using the fastest route we could find, which meant going north through Mirepoix to the Toulouse autoroute and then home via Carcasonne. On our way to Fraisse we made a quick stop at the Sigean Intermarche for some breakfast and dinner ingredients. Also, before we returned to the Cachette, we stopped at Mme Gazaniol’s in town – the wine and produce lady - for the eggs she promised us yesterday. She was very disappointed with her chickens and was only able to offer us 6 eggs. Quel domage! Dinner tonight was duck again, this time using a Lucy Waverman recipe from the LCBO’s Food & Drink. I made a little variation using fresh local figs instead of plums for the sauce. It was a hit! The day ended with pics from our excursion. Clearly we’re missing TV, because we all huddle around the little 13 inch Apple screen to view each other’s pics. We’re having a good time so who cares.

Abbaye St. Martin du Canigou

Monday September 24, 2007
Sorry about the lack of pics here. Blogger won't presently upload any pics.
Today was our religious experience. We may have missed the mark by one day, but we did spend the day at two abbeys in the Pyrenees. We began the day by visiting the boulangerie truck that travels through Fraisse every morning. I think we made a lot of people in the lower village unhappy, since as unregular customers we bought a fair bit of his product – croissants, baguettes, etc. Our drive today took us down the highway to Andorra. For the most part this is an easy drive as it heads up through the valley into the Pyrenees. The prime peak in this area is Canigou at 2800m and it sat atop our first destination that was Abbaye St. Martin de Canigou. We drove up the valley as far as was possible and then had to head out on foot for a relatively steep climb of 1.6 km to the Abbaye. This walk took 30 minutes for us but we seemed to ascend quickly compared to many. It’s definitely not a destination for the faint of heart.

Once at the site, we were obliged to take the group tour in French. Since we’d already read about the abbey in English, we understood most of the tour. This 1000 year old abbey that only felt in disuse in the 1800’s but was totally restored in the late 1900’s, is now being inhabited by a rather unorthodox sect of Catholics consisting of men and women, some celibate and some in families. Whatever, they have set out to maintain this site for posterity. Our tour through the facility was actually led by a member of the Beatitudes, the sect living here. We were totally amazed by what had been built on this site so long ago and asked each other what would possess them to build here in the first place.

Finishing with St. Martin, we headed into Prades where we got a phone call from Jessie telling us that there was an offer on Aaron’s house. Good news! We then moved on to the next valley to the St. Miquel Abbey, a much more accessible location. We were blessed this day with very warm temps and clear skies, so although Canigou itself was never totally visible, the vistas were exceptional. Following our touring, we headed back to Fraisse where we visited our wine & produce merchant from last night. Then, Tony made a mushroom risotto while I grilled sardines and another local white fish and we had yet another wonderful feast. The days definitely go too quickly here, but we have a plan for the remainder of our time in the south and all we need now is agreeable weather.

Back to Collioure & Port Vendres

Sunday September 23, 2007

The day started off very overcast, with potential drizzle in the air. We were hopeful that Tony & Jackie would get a good look at the local environ, but the clouds were way too low and the air way too dense this morning. So, we headed off for the Cote Vermeille in uncertain conditions. By the time we hit Collioure, the skies were looking more promising. We got into town a little earlier than last Sunday, so were able to get some prime parking. This is a big deal in France! We headed to the market and very quickly made the vendors happy, especially the man selling cashmere sweaters. We wandered about for the remainder of the morning and then settled down for lunch at the waterfront restaurant, Copacabana. We’re getting really tired of the accordion player who parks himself with his useless drummer protégée at every restaurant we’ve eaten at. Every time we end up a little poorer.

Following Collioure, we headed for Port Vendres. This is a guaranteed wi-fi spot for me, so while Dawn toured with Tony & Jackie, I did e-mail and posted the blog. After that, we drove into upper town and walked up to the WW2 bunkers and defense structures that the Germans used to protect their submarine base here. This afforded us great views of not only the harbour of Port Vendres, but also Collioure. Concluding this sortie, we headed home where the skies had finally cleared and temperatures had risen so that we could have appetizers on the terrace. We had a great lamb dinner and then took a walk down into the village. The vintner we had been told about was still working late on this Sunday evening and invited us in to tour his facility. We discovered that he also sold local produce, like cucumbers, melons and tomatoes. After walking away with some of his wine, we promised to return tomorrow.

Montpellier

Saturday September 22, 2007


Today, we swapped traveling partners. We took Jackie & Dennis to the train station in Montpellier this morning in the dense fog and rain from Fraisse to about Narbonne. Actually Dennis was doing the driving, but it warn’t much fun! These roads are a challenge at the best of times, but today was a little tense. Shortly after Narbonne the rain went away and by Montpellier it became clear that all the nasty weather was in the south.

We parked at the train station and after casing the joint, met up with Tony & Jackie at the Brasserie de la Gare. We proceeded up through the walking streets in the old town. The city definitely has a vitality indicative of Montpellier’s status as the major French city of the south. We stopped around lunch for a drink and walked across the street for frites and paninis that we brought back to the sidewalk café we’d stopped at.

Later, we walked Jackie & Dennis back to the station, where we parted company as they waited for their 1409 TGV to Paris. With Jackie & Tony now in tow, we headed back south along the coast via beach towns Sete and Agde. The beach was looking a lot bleaker this weekend than last, but this would be a great beach in good weather with its long stretches of smooth sand. By the time we hit our road back to Fraisse the drizzle and fog returned- maybe it never left. Tony & Jackie will have to wait for a clear day to truly appreciate the route into this place. Thanks to our stop at the
Sigean Intermarche, we had a great dinner of mussels, chicken, pasta, salad and crème caramel and called it a fairly early night.

Banyuls & Above

Friday September 21, 2007

It’s the first day of autumn. I’m not sure that’s a big deal in France, since it was still 24 degrees today and they’re still in the middle of vendage. But, we did make note of the date and were grateful for the increased daylight we seem to have at this time of year in France, not to mention the good temperatures. For Dennis & Jackie’s last day with us, we returned to the Cote Vermeille and this time went further south to the dessert wine town of Banyuls. After checking out the waterfront, we headed up into the hills above not only Banyuls but also Port Vendres and Collioure. On the way up, we stopped at Cellier des Templiers to check out the local offerings. We found everything here a little pricey for the quality of the wine. The vin douxs were especially high end, but we did have a very informative tasting with an English speaking lady.

Heading up into the hills, we very quickly became aware that the roads, bordering sharp dropoffs – acronym for cliffs – only allowed for one way traffic, so as the driver today, I had to be very aware of each pull-off to allow for oncoming traffic. The vineyards in these hillsides were delineated by ancient stone walls that created varied patterns in the fields. We all found this drive – Dennis’ choice of route by the way – to be spectacular and scary, in a relatively good mix. We stopped numerous times to take pics that hopefully will come close to capturing the incredible beauty of this region.

Upon our descent, we headed back to the Port Vendres wi-fi spot we found last Sunday, so I could post yesterday’s blog. Then we parked at Collioure and found one of numerous seafood restaurants for lunch. We all had treats from the sea and left Collioure, knowing that our departure would be an “a bientot” not an “au revoir”. Our next destination was Ceret, another medieval town at the foothills of the Pyrenees, with narrow winding streets and rampart remains throughout the town. By the time we were finished here, it was getting late, so we jumped back on the autoroute north and returned to Fraisse. We spent an enjoyable evening of light dinner, good wines and lots of laughter and frivolity, with a card game thrown in to complete the mix. Tomorrow, we deliver Jackie & Dennis to Montpelier for their train to Paris and pick up Tony & Jackie to continue our journeys.

Narbonne, Oppidum & Abbaye de Fontfroide

Thursday September 20, 2007

So, this morning I finally found an internet café in Narbonne and posted the last 4 days. This is more or less what I anticipated on this trip. The first week with regular and free wi-fi was a bonus. The Narbonne internet café was a very reputable place with over 60 computers – not that I needed one – and it was in a nice neighbourhood with great café facilities that the others could enjoy. As we set out through Narbonne, we found it to be a really fascinating town, with lots to see and photograph. The cathedral here – St. Just – has the 3rd highest ceiling in all of the French cathedrals. At 134 feet from altar to the roof, this is one massive cathedral. Of course, the obligatory amazing art works dominate the space, but the ancient altar, discovered under stucco in only 1981 and restored in its 1000 pieces, was worth the visit alone. We took the recommended Michelin town walk and found it very interesting, especially compared to yesterday’s Perpignan. Also, there was a very large market in progress and they have a market building as well – Les Halles – so the girls were especially happy – one more table cloth!

Our next stop was the Oppidum d’Enserune, 20 minutes north of Narbonne. This 5th to 6th century BC site had an interesting walking tour and an equally comprehensive museum. Atop a hill south of Beziers, this site impressed upon us the important presence of cultures in this part of the world that were pre-Roman. Possibly the most unusual aspect of this site, are the radiating fields dating back to the 13th century, just north of the hill where the Oppidum was located. We also discovered that the ancient road, called the Via Domitia, running from Beaucaire to the Pyrenees, ran through this settlement and continues on more or less parallel to the autoroute close to where we get on the autoroute from Fraisse. We found the Oppidum minimally developed, compared to Glanum north of St. Remy, where we felt like we’d returned to Roman times.

We had our pique nique just below the Oppidum, before we headed south for the Abbaye de Fontfroide, an extremely well preserved 12th century abbey in the middle of nowhere. Now privately owned, we resisted the 9 euro entry fee and instead walked around the site to grab the important exterior pics. We then headed for Fraisse along pretty good interior roads – yellow in Michelin terms. We found the entire day very enjoyable and were most impressed with Narbonne. We continue to be blessed with excellent temperatures and blue skies and even the wind disappeared today.

Perpignan & the Mediterranean

Wednesday September 19, 2007

The mistral appears to be here for a while. It blew pretty nicely yesterday, abated a bit over the night, but today it nearly blew us away a couple of times. Fortunately, it’s a relatively warm wind and the day was around 24 and sunny anyway, so the wind wasn’t a problem.
Dawn discovered this morning what I suspected when we arrived at Cachette – we’ve got scorpians. She actually tromped it on her own. Way to go Dawn! Of course they’re small, but we must remember to shake out clothes before putting them on.
On the way to Perpignan this morning, we passed a team of hunters, sitting on their little leather chairs with their rifles by the side of the road, while others with their dogs were down in the valley flushing the sangliers – wild boars. We saw another group on the way home, just outside of Fraisse. There must have been 15 of them scattered through the hillside with a good 6-10 dogs. We’ve heard no bangs, so I suspect they came up dry today.

Perpignan is a city about the size of Kitchener and generally we’re disappointed when we visit the larger cities and Perpignan lived up to our expectations. We did a lot of walking and saw very little of interest. We then drove further up town to the Palace of the Majorcan Kings. It was quite interesting, with a heavy Spanish influence because of course this palace was built when the area still belonged to Spain. There was a lot of red brick and stone work here that was quite unique, based on what we’ve seen in the area.

Perpignan is a city about the size of Kitchener and generally we’re disappointed when we visit the larger cities and Perpignan lived up to our expectations. We did a lot of walking and saw very little of interest. We then drove further up town to the Palace of the Majorcan Kings. It was quite interesting, with a heavy Spanish influence because of course this palace was built when the area still belonged to Spain. There was a lot of red brick and stone work here that was quite unique, based on what we’ve seen in the area.

After Perpignan, we headed north up the coast of the Mediterranean. This is a huge resort area, but already by this date, the place is closed down for the winter. The sandy beaches must be very beautiful in season, but I’m sure they’re packed, so since we weren’t beaching anyway, it was nice to escape the crowds. We pique niqued today in a totally abandoned park and worked hard to not get blown away. No internet spots again today. Maybe our visit to Narbonne tomorrow will allow me to post this.

Carcassonne, Limoux & Rennes le Chateau

Tuesday September 18, 2007

Now that we’ve been at Fraisse for a couple of nights, there are a couple of things on which we need to comment. First of all, the church bell chimes the hour and halves all day and NIGHT! It’s a lovely bell, but they could shut it off until, say, 0900. But even if they shut it off, there’s a problem that can’t be shut off. The roosters! They start at the first hint of dawn, which is apparently 0500. There are two who sing to each other from 0500 onwards. Could the chickens not keep them shut up until a civilized hour?
Also, a comment about the Poubelles is necessary. Now the French have some very polite words for things that in English don’t sound that great. For example, decheterie is a garbage dump and poubelle is garbage. But for this trip, the ladies in the back seat who collect our garbage are now known as the Poubelles. They’ve been doing a great job of keeping Dennis and I neat and organized.
This morning we headed off with the Poubelles to Carcassonne, the best example of a medieval city probably anywhere. There are complaints that this city has become way too commercial and it is full of tourists all of the time, but there is a reason for this. It’s an amazing city. There are very few full time inhabitants inside the old city and most of them are involved in the tourist trade.
Escaping the throngs, we headed south to Limoux, a city known for its Blanquette. The drive followed the path of the Aude River as it wound its way north. It was lunch time when we reached Limoux, but it was also quite cool and drizzly, so we opted for a restaurant on the main square and left our packed pique nique for another day.

Following lunch, we continued our trek south into the more western part of Cathar country. We were heading to the town of Rennes le Chateau, the home of the priest Berenger Saunier, whose discovery of something in the late 19th century led him to live the life of nobility for the next 20 years. There are hordes of books written about this matter, involving the Knights Templar and Priory of Sion and the blood line of Jesus, but wherever the truth lies, this is quite a remarkable place to visit. The views of the Pyrenee foothills and surrounding plains from here are breathtaking.

Rather than going back the way we came, to the autoroute, which took us to Carcassonne from Fraisse in an hour, we opted for a drive back through the Roussillon plain and into Corbieres. The weather got better and the drive became more scenic. We were back to Fraisse shortly after 1700 and after viewing pictures from both my and Dennis’ camera, we set out to prepare a gastronomic delight. In a restaurant, the menu would be described thusly: Canard avec sauce morilles, pate, legumes grilles et figues rotie. The accompanying wines were of course Blanquette de Limoux, but also a delightful Cote Rotie picked up on our way south. Not too shabby for such a remote location!

Chateaus Queribus & Peyrepetuse

Monday September 17, 2007

Today the plan was to head into Cathar country to explore the remains of two of its most important strongholds – Queribus and Peyrepetuse. We knew this had to be done on a day with low winds due to heights we’d be at. The day started off overcast but warm with a promise of better things. We had a great breakfast and headed out on our adventure.
We drove first to Durban des Corbieres because they had a supermarket and we needed water for our trek up to the castles. We waited 15 minutes for them to open and then set out for Queribus – pronounced keribous. This chateau was the last stronghold of the Cathars before the Vatican decided that their interpretation of Catholicism was not appropriate and they then obliterated every Cathar man, woman and child. Gotta love the Roman Catholic Church.

The drive up to this chateau was steep, but mild in comparison with the walk up to the chateau once we parked. We were very fortunate to have very clear and sunny conditions for our visit to these castles, because our views were superlative. These ruins have been made over more than once, since their original Cathar foundations, so it’s hard to appreciate what they had been originally, but they were still amazing.
Winding down from Queribus, we headed out for the opposite peak of Peyrepetuse. This is a 3 * Michelin attraction for good reason. It is huge and a lot of it is very well preserved.
Before we started on our trek upwards, we had lunch at one of many picnic tables on site. Feeling replenished, we started up. Both chateaux had a 5 euro admission fee - by the way. It took a good 45 minutes to walk up and Dawn stalled at the final ascent stairs, but it was an interesting trek with steep and treacherous routes all the way. More than once, I had the distinct feeling that my antiperspirant had failed me. Views from both summits were superlative, but most pics taken fail to totally capture the 3D impressiveness of these sites.

From Peyrepetuse, we drove around the base of the hill and towards another big attraction – the Galamus gorge. This road was two way but really only had room for one car winding through the gorge. There were periodic pull offs to allow cars to pass, but fortunately we met only one car on our way through and we were already at a pull-off. Once we got through the gorge we headed through Cotes de Roussillon wine country – not to be confused with the Luberon Roussillon - and stopped in Maury to check out the local product. The wines of this region, we’re finding, are a little drier and less fruity than those further north. It might have something to do with the harsh conditions under which they grow – terroir and climate. Just before Durban we went through Albas which was an authentically old village with some very unusual glacial geology in the surrounding countryside. This time in Durban, coming from the opposite direction, we discovered a remarkable chateau ruin atop the town.
Back at Cachette Tranquil, it started to rain and a fairly impressive electrical storm ensued. They really need the rain! We had an excellent dinner of lamb chops, potatoes and beans and then settled down to do our own thing – reading, blogging, etc. An amazing day!
Carcassonne, Limoux & Rennes le Chateau

Collioure & Port Vendres

Sunday September 16, 2007

We’ve had our first night in Cachette Tranquil and all is well. Other than the church bells that toll two times every hour – all night – our first night was uneventful. After yesterday that’s a good thing. We didn’t get going too early this morning, which was probably a mistake in retrospect. But we did have a leisurely breakfast after our showers and then headed out for a day on the Mediterranean at Collioure and Port Vendres.
We took a different route out of Fraisse –there are only two – and got totally screwed up in a village about 10 km down the road. We went past the same spot in the village 3 times and finally backtracked and found the real route. That’s the “charm” of visiting new places – lots of adventures interpreting the maps. So, 20 minutes later we were back on the route to the autoroute south.
By the time we got to Collioure, the cars were lining up to get into town. It was Sunday after all and this is a huge tourist – French and otherwise – destination. We made our way through town and parked well up into upper town – the old two wheels off the curb trick. The day was hot and sunny as we headed to the scenic bay surrounded by chateau, stone pier and colourful town. This is one of those towns that, once you’ve been there, you never forget. It has a painter’s or poet’s beauty about it that must be seen to appreciate. Therefore, I’ve added lots of pics with this post.

We walked down along the water and around Chateau Royal to a Sunday market. We purchased some essentials for dinner and headed down the shore to a restaurant called Les Templiers for lunch. We all opted for seafood; Dennis a fish stew; Dawn and Jackie a fresh grilled fish; and me sea crayfish. Nobody regretted their choices.

After lunch we continued wandering along the water’s edge appreciating the views which included many French beauties in less than full attire. Soon, we found ourselves back at the car and headed now for Port Vendres, just down the coast. Port Vendres differs hugely from Collioure in that it is a working port with many fishing and commercial boats in the harbour. But it still has a charm and it also had wi-fi hot spots along the main street. Discovering this, I went back to the car and got my laptop and set out to post yesterday’s entry and respond to e-mail. We definitely have a new mind set about connectivity with cell phones and internet and staying in a spot with neither has made that very apparent.
Quitting Port Vendres, we headed back to Perpignan and the autoroute north. Shortly, we found ourselves again on the “goat path” to Fraisse. We did our regular cocktails on the terrace trick, had an egg and potato gallette for supper and finished off the evening with books and me – my blog.

Heading south to Fraisse des Corbieres

Saturday September 15, 2007

Today was not one of Dawn’s better days - more about that later.
We had an early breakfast at L’Oliveraie and were off to the market in Uzes by 0830. The drive was a familiar one past many important Chateauneuf and Tavel producers. By the time we arrived in Uzes they were already parking on the edge of town. This and the market of Vaison are easily the largest markets we have ever been to that envelope the entire town and provide all manner of goods. Our focus was dry goods and some items for lunch. As we made our way to the Places des Arbres in the centre of the old town, the place was jammed with people. We chose numerous Provencal items at our usual spot when Dawn noticed she no longer had her wallet. Since I didn’t have sufficient cash for the purchase, we made our way back to the ring road for a bank machine and began to contemplate the whereabouts of the wallet. By the time we had paid for our purchase and met up with Dennis & Jackie, we figured we’d better get back to the car to check for the wallet there. No wallet. Fortunately my phone had sufficient charge to make two Canadian calls to cancel Visa and Master cards, which ended up being a fairly smooth process. We knew that the last time Dawn used her wallet was the day before in Vaison and ended up surmising that she had been the victim of one of the very famous and apparently very smooth voleurs – pickpockets.
In any case, we continued on our travels south and got back on the autoroute. Everybody needed a washroom break and the autoroute is the best bet for finding a washroom since they appear in one of their excellent rest stops about every 5 kilometres. The one we stopped at also had a restaurant and takeout lunch items, not greasy fast food like at home, but excellent sandwiches and pastries. While perusing the offerings, Jackie came out of the washroom and announced to me that Dawn was locked in her cubicle - a solid door and wall affair unlike our Canadian counterparts. We told the girl at the lunch counter about the event and she got someone to take over for her at the counter and headed for the bathroom with a knife – I’m thinking this was not the first time they’d captured someone. She couldn’t free Dawn, but shortly the manager appeared with tools in hand and Dawn was out. We were starting to think we’d better keep an eye on Dawn and save her from the apparent black cloud over her head.

Our second stop was Pezenas, an ancient town just north of Beziers. Their market was winding down by the time we arrived at around 1400, but we wandered about town and were intrigued with the very narrow cobble stone streets and ancient houses lining them.
Back on the autoroute we finally arrived at the turnoff for our destination – Fraisse les Corbieres. We bought some basic food stuffs at the Intermarche right off the highway. When I asked about wi-fi hotspots in the area, what I thought was confirmed – it was going to be tough to find a spot to post my blog.
The road to Fraisse wound its way through scrubby hills. We understood that our accommodations were about 20 minutes from the highway and turned out to be accurate, but the road was extremely interesting – an acronym for “Was that a road or a goat path?”
As per instructions, we visited the home of Mme. Thibault, right beside the cathedral for the keys. Thank God for her, because I’m not sure we would have ever found our way to the top of town where our ancient stone house was located. We found the house well equipped with communal area on the main floor and bath and bedrooms on the second. Every room had a commanding view of the town and the surrounding hills and after installing our wine cache in the cellar and getting our bags to our rooms, we chilled a Louis Sipp cremant and enjoyed it on the terrace. Dinner was courtesy of Intermarche, simple yet thoroughly enjoyed. Following dinner and just at dusk we walked down through the town, deciding that the inhabitants here were mainly farmers of the famous Corbieres wines. They were also in the heart of their vendage. There actually were pockets of very arable land nestling in the hills that contained the vineyards. This is a very unique and impressive location - no cell phone coverage here by the way - and so far we are pleased with the choice and glad that Dawn escaped any further escapades. Tomorrow’s another day.

Travelling around Cairanne

Friday September 14, 2007

According to Margaret, the French don’t like to work. They do work. They just don’t like it. That would give credence to the saying: the French work to live – in the Americas we live to work. From that, we also know that we eat to live and the French live to eat. This is why we love France – we identify with them.
We went down to Peter & Margaret’s in the morning and set out for a Peter-guided wine tour. We only visited 2 producers, both high on Peter’s list and tasted a variety of Vacqueras & Gigondas vintages. We can’t buy any more, because the car is already full, but it was tempting.
Then we went back to Chateau Montmirail for lunch. By now the temp had hit 31 degrees. The picture preceeding the blog is there. I should also point out that the panorama is the Rhone valley from Peter & Margaret’s balcony. The other picture is Cairanne from the other side showing Peter & Margaret’s house and studio. Lunch on the terrace at Montmirail was fabulous, by the way.
We finished the day with a trip into Orange for table clothes, over to Vaison Romaine for a few gifts and finally to St. Cecile les Vignes for pizza for dinner. We went back to the B&B and had a quick dip in the pool, followed by drinks and pizza. Vive la France! La vie est belle!

Return to Provence

Thursday September 13, 2007


Today was another travel day. After having another wonderful Chateau la Berchere breakfast, we headed out for the autoroute. Since it was not going to be a long drive, we got off the autoroute at Vienne to check out the northern Rhone wine towns. Our first surprise was the steepness of the slopes where the grapes were growing. The angle of the land was easily as radical as in the Rhine valley. The Rhone valley all throughout this region is orchard country with all manner of fruit growing and the grapes only seem to be planted on these extreme slopes, perhaps to soak up as much sun as possible.
We made one stop along the way in Condrieu to taste wine. We were most interested in the Cote Rotie here and were not disappointed. The vintner assured us that only regular work boots were required to climb these hills.
Continuing on south, we alternated from side roads to the autoroute. At Montelimar we headed towards Cairranne, but because it was a little early we stopped off first at Vaison la Romaine – another favourite town.
We found our B&B – L’Oliveraie - in a great location overlooking the vineyards and Cairranne and then dropped down to see Peter & Margaret. Peter has made amazing progress and the top floor of the house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms is now occupied.
For dinner we headed off to La Vieille France Jardin des Saveurs in St. Paul 3 Chateaux, a place Peter & Margaret always wanted to try but had never gotten to. This was a lovely mas-styled home on the outskirts of town that served haut cuisine. We all had the multi course meal consisting of everything from lobster to zucchini flowers to foie gras to the meat course that was turbot for everyone but me. I had pigeon. Since his last name is Pigeon, Peter just couldn’t bear the thought of having it, but he did try some of mine and quite enjoyed it.
The drive back to L’Oliveraie, located in the hills 1.3 km out of Cairranne was dark and windy and a very complicated, but fortunately Peter led the way. By the time we returned it was past midnight and we were pooched.

Day two in Burgundy

Wednesday September 12, 2007

We started the day with a castle breakfast and as breakfasts go in France, this one is fit for kings – with a wide variety of cold meats, cheeses, pastries, yogurts and scrambled eggs. With this breakfast under our belts it was time to head out into wine country. We drove through the cru villages just north of Beaune like Aloxe Corton and Pernand Verglesses.
We then made a brief stop in Beaune which had a very small market, but is always an interesting walk. We were able to pick up some lunch items at the market, but I think we must have had tourist written all over our foreheads because they managed to sell us sanglier (wild boar) tenderloin (dried) and tome cheese for around $50. Some lunch eh? We also added sun dried tomatoes, olives and tapenade at equally exorbitant prices. Of course we should know better, but this stuff is hard to resist.

Then we headed out for our afternoon drive through the Burgundy countryside south of Beaune. This is primarily known as white wine country, but these chardonnays are the best in the world, each one with a character of its own due to terroir and yearly climate variations. As you leave Beaune you first hit Pommard one of the last really red wine towns south of Beaune. But we continued on through Volnay to our favourite, Auxey Durress. Fortunately our regular visit to Phippe Prunier-Damy was not affected by the vendage. Madame came out of the kitchen with her apron on to allow us to taste 8 different offerings. She is always very friendly and despite knowing no English, we had a good time with her. Dennis & I both left with ½ dozen good ones + the all important marc – the latter totally under the table, since they are not licensed to sell spirits.
From there we drove through the amazing wine towns of Meursault, Puligny Montrachet and Chassagne Montrachet, only to be followed by Santenay. We continued on through the narrow winding streets of many other Haut Cotes villages. They were all bustling with the vendage, but we managed to stay out of their way. In one village called Rochepot, we were most impressed with its chateau, high up on the treed hillside. Although we drove up to it, we resisted the admission price, not wanting to take the time. It was a brilliantly blue skied day and still a bit cool, but we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

When we returned to the Chateau we had time to share a nice white Haut Cotes on the sunny side of the Chateau. I did my blog while the others read and soaked up the sun and atmosphere.
The day ended with a return to the Restaurant la Tour in Nuits St. Georges – not a shabby wine town either. Burgundy has been great and now that we know that Prunier-Damy is opening a gite next year, we may spend more time here.

Burgundy

Tuesday September 11, 2007

Today was a travel day and since we’ve more or less recovered from jet lag, the drive was a lot easier than that from Paris to Obernai. We were on autoroute all the way to Dijon, which was our first stop. This city, famous for its mustard, is also a very historical location for the dukes of Burgundy. We did a short walk about the old town and then started down the Route of Grand Crus. The route between Dijon and Beaune has probably the most famous wine villages in the world like Bonne Mares, Gevry Chambertin, Vosne Romanee, Morey St. Denis, Chambolle Musigny and many more.
The villages are up the hill from the route national, so we headed up into the villages at Fixin. The vendage started on Monday and will go for 9 days, so there were pickers and picking machines everywhere. With so much manpower expended on picking, many domains were not open for tasting. We did, however, find a producer open in Gevry Chambertin. We realized we’d come to the right place, when we were greeted by a large photo of the vintner shaking hands with Sean Connery in his winery last year. I thought Bond only drank martinis and champagne. He must have mellowed with old age.
Our next stop was in Chambolle Musigny at a cellar that featured the best of Burgundy. We sat with the English speaking proprietor and tasted 3 excellent wines – a white Puligny Montrachet, a red Chambolle Musigny and finally a premier cru red Vosne Romanee.