At long last a day away from the garden
It is nearly a month since I wrote on this blog but a lot of productive work has been carried out in the meantime. Our potager (vegetable garden) is looking good. It took ages to make it weed free which will be an ongoing job but the initial stage is completed and some of the vegetables are starting to show themselves. Red and white onions, peas, broad beans, and lettuces all pushing on. We are not quite sure where the haricot beans have gone but maybe they are a little slower than everything else. Time and patience will tell. The flower garden has produced a lovely display of spring bulbs ie. daffodils and narcissi and is now showing the tulips and the primulas. Sounds like hard work but it is good to see the results of our labours.
Anyway we felt that we had earned a day out yesterday so we went for a drive around the Minervois region. Yes another type of wine but for once we resisted the temptation to go tasting and just enjoyed the places and the scenery.
The first place that we went to was Aigne, this is a circulade village constructed like a snail.
There are many such villages around the region. Each house has its front door facing onto the narrow streets and the spiral route leads to the center of the village. In some places it can be the house of the “lord of the manor” or as is the case in Aigne the church. Apparently it was a form of defence because the narrow streets did not allow hoards of invaders to attack in force. In the summer this is quite a busy tourist attraction but yesterday because it was Monday and the season has not yet started it was very quiet. Local artisans have not yet opened their shops but the signs of their businesses can be seen hanging above doorways or attached to the walls. We also showed some restraint while at Aigne by not visiting a restaurant situated in the square by the entance to ” L’Escargot” (snail) (circulade). We have eaten there previously and can highly recommend it.
Leaving Aigne we drove onto Minerve (named after the goddess). It is a town on a precipice above the gorges of la Cesse and le Brian. At one time it was one of the most powerful cathar fortresses but in 1210 it capitulated before the troops of Simon de Montfort. As in the case of many such towns (Beziers for one) the resident Cathars were burnt alive by the Inquisition. History /religion has a lot to answer for world wide not just in this region. The old town thank goodness still retains its exceptional character. The old parapet walk is a good way to walk around the town and there are several interesting buildings to see.
We have visited Minerve several times and always manage to see something that we had previously missed. For example the little bridges spanning the river Cesse which may well have been concealed by the summer vegetation when we were here before. Although it may have been because of the lack of visitors at this time of the year meant that we took more time to look at the natural sights rather than visiting the different craft and art shops of which there are many. There is one gentleman who is a wood turner who really enjoys chatting and descibing how he sources the wood for his craft. He is one of many of the sociable,welcoming people that can be met in this striking ,incredible town.
To return home we decided to drive along the smaller roads to enable us to “pootle” without hindering the people in a hurry. We were told by the friend with us that there was a place called la curiosity l’Auriol which we would like to see. So we followed the signs along a small road until she said stop. Not really anything to see that was different and we had stopped on what appeared to be a gentle hill going upwards. “Take off the brake and put the car in neutral “she said. I did as requested and the car continued to move forward UP the hill. Definitely a, curiosity. I seem to remember something like this on the Isle of Wight but I cannot remember exactly where. Having played like children rolling the car up and down we carried on our way to Homps (on the banks of the canal) where we intended to stop and have a drink but Homps was shut. Again Monday out of season but I suppose everybody needs a day off,pity they all have the same day. Luckily when we arrived at the next decent sized town called Olonzac there were a couple of bars open so we were able to refresh ourselves with a much needed drink. It was lovely to sit outside in the sunshine and remove jackets without feeling cold at all. Hardly surprising that we felt warm when the sign outside the pharmacy said 27 degrees. ” Tell me again” I said to Geoff, “Why did we decide to come here and live ?” Until the next time, which I promise will not be as long.
