Beziers

Despite the number of times we've driven through this area, which is actually numerous, we have never visited Beziers. Today we would change that. The city is actually larger than Narbonne to the south - around 72 000 - and it played a fairly significant role in the history of the Cathars. In 1209 the city was attacked by the Catholics - don't get me started - in a effort to eradicate Catharism. Despite the fact that many residents sought refuge in the cathedrals, the 20 000 some odd residents at the time, were all slaughtered - every last one. Following that, most of the city was razed, so what you see today is still old but not dating back to 35BC when the area was originally settled.

The dominant feature on the landscape is the old bridge with St. Nazaire Cathedral towering above it and Eglise St. Jude below. This is a reconstruction after the original was burned to the ground with thousands of citizens inside.
Since today was promising to be a damp one, we thought Beziers would be the best destination for some decent shopping and by the time we'd finished we'd been to Carrefour, Geant and Auchan. We're going back to shop the old town which has some fabulous looking shops, including Galleries Lafayette and Monoprix.
The Canal du Midi runs right through Beziers and its connection with the Mediterranean. This link with the Atlantic is noteworthy with its paved paths along side for much of the course and its almost total shade due to its plane tree lined banks.

Following lunch back at Aurelie we did some wine shopping at the Maison des Vins around the corner from us. We're still trying to decide which wines we most prefer - those from schist regions or those from limestone or limestone and clay terroirs. So far, they're all winning. Surprise!
Dawn spent a happy afternoon in the kitchen rustling up a local Boeuf Bourguignon, using St. Chinian wine. It's great to have some cooler weather to allow you to actually heat up the house with cooking. Aurelie's kitchen is also well appointed and its window lets you keep an eye on activity in the town, so it's not a bad place to hang out.