The Beziers Blog

At long last I am attempting to continue my long neglected blog.  I can list a few valid reasons for the delay. The cat tipped wine over the computer.  The new computer picked up a nasty virus and my camera fell onto the floor making it necessary to buy a new one. All as I say valid excuses but honesty must make me admit I have cogitated,deliberated and generally procrastinated. So where do I restart?  Here is hoping I have not forgotten what to do. Well I am getting old.!!!!!

Wine tipping culprit

A bit like this fluffy black and white individual who is now 10 years old. He came with us from the U.K and his name is Dusty.If you look carefully you will see that his muzzle is “dusty” looking. Actually for those of you that do not speak French (and yes I struggle) the word for dust is poussiere so that makes him Poussiere puss . Not that that was what I called him at the time. Never  mind that was a while ago and all is forgiven.

See I am still procrastinating instead of getting on with it.

So you may wonder what we have been doing in the last few months. Life continues to be enjoyable and we are gradually getting more involved with the people in this area.

There is a group who meet for various social gatherings and also meet each week just for a chat and they also play cards. The game they play is called “Tarot” They use 2 packs of cards . 1

One of our social fests

normal and 1 Tarot pack. I have sat and watched them many times and I must admit it is as clear as mud to me. But they enjoy it and that is the main intention of the gathering.  The social gathering for the community can be for any reason that comes to mind. We have had a sardine fest, a mussel fest , a petanque  (boules) evening and several others. The general idea is that everybody takes something to eat or to accompany what ever food is being celebrated. It can be fun introducing English type dishes just to make things a bit different.  A mixed salad goes down well, especially when it has every salad vegetable in it that you can think of and of course boiled eggs to decorate. It does not have to be savoury as desserts are really appreciated. One of the desserts that I prepared was a tray full of individual “sherry” trifles. Why the punctuation you may ask? Well ,believe it or not sherry is not to be found around here. Easy enough in Spain (2 hours drive) but not here. So imagination had to be used. You may well have heard of Noilly Prat, this alcoholic (hic) beverage is made not far from here in Marseillan. They export 2 varieties ie the white and the red but they also make an amber (ambre) which in my opinion is the best and not just for trifles. Before we get back to the fests I must tell you that when asking for Noilly Prat it is essential that you pronounce ALL of the letters. Even Rick Stein had to be corrected.  Anyway the trifles went down well but some of the ladies thought they should come with a health warning. See the french do have a sense of humour.

They are also resilient . The evening that was planned for petanque was to say the least a bit windy. So without any fuss or bother all chairs tables and food stuffs were gathered up and transported to a garage. We had English friends staying with us at the time and at first they were a little concerned about the change of plans but they assured me afterwards that they had been made to feel very welcome and had really enjoyed the evening. That same night we were also joined by some American visitors who were also pleasantly surprised that such an impromptu arrangement could be so much fun. I had better add their pictures as well.

Well that is it I have made a start. Next time I will endeavour to return to normal and take you on a few day trips. Please forgive me for being tardy but I am back. x

American visitors

 As you can see the garden is now reasonably tidy and everything is beginning to grow.  The weather forecast did not look promising so we made the most of Tuesday and headed for the hills.Leaving Beziers on the road towards St Pons, passing by the new spring colours on the trees and noticing that the grape vines were beginning to have little green tips on them lakes or hills that was the question. Why not both as there is a lovely drive through the forest called Foret Somail.

 It took us about 25 minutes to reach St Chinian and a further half hour to get to St Pons where we followed the D907 to the Lac du Vezoles. It was not cold but as you can see from the photos it was cloudy in places. Certainly not enough to deter the fishermen,who we think were angling for trout. There is a bridge there that crosses over the end of the lake and it was a good spot to let Peete (the dog) have a run and answer the call of nature. It was also fresh enough to increase our appetites in expectation of the lunch we were hoping to get.

 We had visited the area before and found a restaurant called Auberge La Resse and were keeping our fingers crossed that it would be open. Before getting to the restaurant which is just outside the village of La Salvetat the road rises above said village and it was possible to take a photo overlooking the village. Carrying on we were delighted to find the restaurant open, and welcoming. After perusing the carte we all decided on the  23 euros  menu, entree,plat,fromage et dessert. Of course a demi pichet of wine and coffes to finish. The photo shows Lamya with an entrcote steak and Geoff with a very large plate of veal which had been cooked to perfection in a very nice sauce. I could quite easily have curled up in a corner and gone to sleep but it was necessary to continue our drive. We realised that we had climbed a long way up to La Salvetat but it was still a surprise to see daffodils and violets in full bloom when ours had finished weeks ago.

 After leaving the restaurant we went into La Salvetat itself.In the 12th century the village was moved from the valley on to a rocky spur hopefully to flee the many wars of that time.The name derives from “A place of Salvation”. The village has undergone a lot of architectural modifications (demolition of fortifications) over the years but some vestiges still exist.The portanelle (small door in Occitan) and the well in the donjon square are two of these.  After the 1st world war many people left the area and its main income now comes from tourism and agriculture. if you look carefully you will see the sign for take away fish and chips (How much?) which I think shows the tourist influence very well. We met some of the residents chatting in the afternoon sun when we walked around and they were very friendly and sociable even making a fuss of Peete. The lady in the touriste office was also very helpful and pointed us in the right direction to find English lierature about the village. (Useful for this blog.)

We drove home via Olargues where I took some photos to whet your appetites for a blog in the future. Until then may I take this oppurtunity to wish you all a peaceful Easter. Maybe I will meet some off you at sometime. 

Hello Everybody,

 I wrote the following a  few weeks ago thinking I could use it at some point. This is said point. We have had a fair amount of rain this week so have not been out and about as much as usual. I am not going to moan about the weather though because the garden has really benefitted from a good soaking.All of the vegetables that we planted are starting to push through,it bodes well for stocking the freezer. We are hoping that the sun shines this week-end because we would like to drive into the mountains and a visit a place called La Salvetat sur Agout. Fingers crossed.

 As you may have heard on the news we  had a blustery day down here. With the winds  gusting up to 140 Km an hour it was not really conducive for sight seeing or walking around. This has given me the opportunity to show you all some photographs that we took in one of the parks in Beziers in January.  As you can see the entrance is quite impressive, as is the memorial which is situated just inside the gates. This is the view that people see when they arrive at Beziers railway station.  As we walk around the park there are several statues and fountains.

Whilst strolling around the winding pathways one of the surprises that we see is the amphitheatre which is occasionally used for open air concerts. 

Continuing our walk we pass the childrens play area and the small lake which has a good variety of wildlife.   

On leaving the park we can see a number of impressive buildings.  You never know, we may win the Lotto one day and be able to afford one overlooking the park - what a splendid view to wake up to. 

Short and sweet - hope you all enjoy the pictures.  Hopefully soon the wind will drop and we will go further afield (another one of the walks).

  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.

 This week has been devoted to the garden so no drives out and about. This did not stop me meeting up with a friend on Tuesday and we went to one of the local markets. A strong North African influence in the goods on sale but bargains to be found if one looks hard enough. I did not take any pictures in the market as it could be easy to offend people by taking pics without permission and there were far too many people to ask.

  After we left the market we decided to walk back into the centre of town,quite a long walk but interesting. I wonder how long we will have to live here before we discover all of the little nooks and crannys that are not mentioned in the guide books.  As we walked along the road we saw a little garden that niether of us had visited before. It is called the Jardin de Antonine and is dedicated to people who lost their lives during the bombardment of July 5th 1944. At this time of the year there were not many flowers to be seen but the statues were very good. Like so many gardens in this region there are lots of little corners and resting places that considering where the garden is situated are really tranquil.

  After leaving the garden we carried on towards the centre and Lamya (my friend ) pointed out the roof of a church which is quite spectacular. I am sure there is a proper way to describe it but I think “Mosaic” just about descibes it. It is a pity that I could not remove the aerials or the wires but I think my pics will give you some idea of how it looks. Inside the church of ”the Immaculate Conception” the sunshine made some beautiful reflections on the walls. This caused a little problem because the reflections managed to hide the murals that were painted around the altar. Somewhat faded but still lovely to look at.

   When we arrived on the Allees Paul Riquet we felt we had earned a treat so we went for a chocolat anciennes in the salon de the’. This I can recommend for any chocoholics who may need a quick fix. It is a bit like drinking melted chocolate bars.

  Because Geoff had worked in the garden while I was meandering around Beziers on Tuesday we decided to go into town on Friday. Not really for shopping (I do not do that) but to have a look at the usual Friday flower market. I will let the photo’s say it all. We did do a little shopping on the market. We bought strawberry plants,chives,tarragon and some camomile. I am hoping the camomile will make some ground cover as well as smelling nice.

     It is now Saturday the plants are in the garden and Geoff continues with planting and tidying. Maybe I have sat here long enough and had better go and help. Where will I have been next time? Heaven only knows and I do not have a direct line. Until then.

  Another beautiful day weatherwise yesterday and we had decided to visit Perpignan. We had been to the airport several times but had never been into the town itself.

  As with many places in this part of France Perpignan has a long history having once been the capital city of the counts of Roussillon and the kings of Majorca. That last fact struck me as being strange but apparently the town was the  mainland capital of the kingdom of Majorca. It lacked a palace fit for a king so in 1276  Palais des Rois de Majorque was built. It looks more like a fortress than a residence and is quite impressive.  The views from the Tour de l’Hommage (entrance tower) are splendid, looking over the town and across towards the Massif du Canigou. It is only a short walk from the main part of the town to reach this historical building.

  While walking towards the palace we passed Le Castillet a 15th century building which used to be used as a prison but is now used as a museum devoted to local crafts and festival. We did not go inside for two reasons, 1  We had the dog with us and 2 It was Sunday in February and not open. It is a lovely building consisting of two towers built in red brick, it is the only surviving part of the towns fortified walls.  Carrying on with our walk we arrived at the Cathedral St-Jean which I believe has a magnificent altar but as it was under cover one presumes it is under going some restoration. The rest of the cathedral has some lovely stained glass windows  and I quite liked the wrought iron bell tower (each to his own).

  For anybody that likes shopping (I am not one ) the shops in the narrow streets offer a wide variety of goods. Many of the shops are individual and sell traditional catalan things such as fabrics and jewellery. My favourite sort of shopping is markets so we will have to return on a market day. we arrived too late for the sunday morning flea market but they also have a bric-a-brac one, on the second saturday of each month as well as the daily fruit and vegetable one that nearly all the fair sized towns have.

 We did enjoy our wander around Perpignan but we also enjoyed the drive back to Beziers. Instead of returning along the N9 we headed to the coast and came back via Leucate. Leucate consists of a port,a plage and a small town. It is possible to sit nearly on the beach and eat mussels and  oyster (cultivated locally). We have done this in the past and very nice they were too.  We also saw some flamingoes en-route but they were too far out in the etang (lake) to merit a photo.  One other little deviation was to drive past the Wild Life Park at Sigean. Obviously not a great deal to see from the road side but it was amusing to see Peetes reaction to an ostrich. That is definitely a visit for another day i believe they have bears there so it is a must. NOT the dog though.

 As I said at the end of my last post we were going to go to a Mimosa festival on Sunday which is just what we did.

   We left home at about 10.30 to drive to Roquebrun, a little town situated on the side of a hill which runs down to the river Orb. Apparently it is known as the “little Nice” of the herault because of its micro climate which encourages plants and makes he place quite luxuriant.

    On arriving at Roquebrun it was evident that this was a very popular event. I did not think we were going to be able to park within a couple of kilometres of the town but luck was smiling on us and as I waited in a queue of traffic a car park attendant directed four cars including ours to a town car park where some people had just left.

         To get into the town it is necessary to walk across a long multi arched bridge that crosses the Orb. We have done this several times but yesterday was the first time that the wind nearly cut us in half. It was so cold and blowy that I thought we will not be here very long. Once we had crossed the bridge and got into the lee of the hill it was not so bad. There were hundreds of people looking at all of the stalls. Typically french obviously, cheese,sausages,honey,olive oil,and bread specialities to mention a few of the foods that were on sale. Clothes, ornaments,gadgets and novelties were also on display but the most noticable thing was of course the Mimosa. There were sprigs,and branches of it everywhere and it was also possible to buy a tree for planting. Maybe Another day when I have decided where to put it.

  In Roquebrun there is also a mediterranean garden which is normally closed for the winter but was opened up especially for the festival. We decided it was about time to go and have a look as we had promised ourselves in the past. What a good decission that was. Built right up against the hillside it is well protected from the wind and therefore a very pleasnt place to walk around. It is stated that there are more than 200 varieties of cactus planted in the garden. walkways along the side of the flower beds are a little steep in places but all are maintained to a high degree. Well worth a visit at anytime of the year.

 After leaving the gardens we wandered around the stalls trying to resist the temptations to buy. We did not do a very good jod of resisting, some things just have to be bought. Geoff, who does not “do” hats was looking at a cap that was 90% wool, when he tried it on I was surprised because it looked good. At 5 euros it would have been silly to leave it there especially as he was feeling the cold on his head (not a lot of hair there). Another thing I could not resist was a cardigan made from pure alpaca wool. People reading this who knit will know that wool of any sort is not cheap acrilycs yes, wool no. 45 euros was the price marked it also had the authenticity labels on it. No! it did not have the name of the alpaca, that would have been asking too much.  By this time it was getting on for 3 o/clock so we decided to leave and head back for mome,stopping for a hot chocolate on the way.

  I do not know where our next outing will lead us but rest assured I wll try to tell you all about it.

  What an interesting few days we have had !!!!  It has been a bit like a comedy of errors. It has also meant I could not maintain the blog as much as I wanted to.

  “ Wot ‘appened woz” to coin a phrase. 2 weeks ago today we had horrendous winds (you may have seen this on the news). the wind was gusting up to 140 kilometres an hour, the result was it blew the pilot light out on our boiler/heater. Could we re-light it? Could we heck as like. Of course it was Le week-end so nobody available to help. So no heating and no hot water. Not to worry,we have a calor heater for emergencies and we can boil water,panic not. We will sort it on Monday (perhaps)

    On Sunday the wind had dropped and we had wall to wall sunshine. So off we go for a drive, hopefully to get some pictures to show you all. We drove first to Marseillan a pretty town with a quay along which are several bars and restaurants of course it is obligatory for us to stop for a coffee after walking to the end of the quay. As you can see from the picture of Geoff and Peete it was a beautiful day. The line across the photo is a sandbar that separates the Bassin de Thau from the body of the Mediterranean sea.  We have taken visitors to Marseillan many times as this is where they produce “Noilly Prat”  (yes you do pronounce all of the letters)  It is possible to have free guided tours ending with a tasting. It is not essential to take the tour.  Wherever Noilly Prat is sold one can only buy the red or white variety but in Marseillan it is also possible to buy their Ambre/Amber. Personally my favourite,it is not sold anywhere else so we have to visit regularly (shame).

  After leaving there we drove along the north side of the etang until we arrived at Bouzigues stopping along the way to take photos of the oyster beds.  This is what Bouzigues is famous for, I think they are a bit like marmite, you either love them or loath them. We come into the first category. There is very little to see in the town itself but there are a myriad of small restaurants all competing with each other to sell sea food platters. I thought it would be a good idea to take a photo of one of these dishes. They consisted of , 18. oysters 24 mussels, some had crab (whole) and some had lobsters(whole) and varying other sea foods. It was possible to buy a plate for 2 for between 36/38 euros depending on the restaurant. Right select the restaurant , check the camera before going in ,oops camera has gone on strike. We never went in to eat because as I have said the main reason was to get a photo. Somebody was not the happiest person in the world? We did take some photos of the area but then came home. Looking on the positive side we have an excuse to visit again. We came home and decided to go to our local restaurant the Cardinal. Wrong they are on their annual holidays. Back home for something out of the freezer.

 We spent the next 5 days trying to find somebody to repair the boiler. Standard reply to our request,”sorry we do not know that make” Not very helpful. So we went back to the shop where we had bought it. A lovely lady assistant gave us the number of a man who did know the make. He arrived on Thursday and sorted the problem in about 10 minutes. Apparently a safety device turned everything off when the pilot light went out.  The camera? it has to be sent away to an Olympus specialist. Difficult to do a blog without pictures so we have had to buy a new camera.  Our strange 2 weeks does not end there. I walked into the kitchen on Wednesday and one of the knobs off the cooker is on the floor. Not one of the 5 that just pulls off, oh no it had to be the one that controls the timer/clock etc. Go out to buy a new one,sorry madam it is still under guarantee so we have to send a specialist. He will be here on Tuesday.

  Tomorrow we are going to a Mimosa festival so hopefully my next blog will be a bit more normal.

A few months ago we bought a book of walks, 54 in all, each within a 65 mile radius of Beziers. Well 65 miles north east & west obviously not south because unless your initials are J.C. You would find it very difficult to walk on water. The Mediterranean is only about 8 miles due south of us.

Anyway back to the book of walks. We have done some of them and enjoyed them all. When arriving at the start of a walk the way signs are easy to find and they clearly mark the route all the way along to the end. There are 4 grades of walks ranging from very easy to difficult. Yellow markers are painted at each significant point, a dash to follow and a cross to say do not go this way. It is a bit strange that when looking for this book on the “net” to see if it was available in English I came across a comment from one reader that said a route was not marked and that the stated distance was way out. Being a bit “critical” myself I have on occasion worn a pedometer and the walks we have done have been accurately stated in the book. Title of book. L’Herault….a pied. ISBN 978-2-7514-01862-2.

Yesterday was beautiful, far to nice to stay at home, just the day to try another walk. Nothing too long or too energetic but where to go? Out comes the book,the very 1^st walk attracted our attention ,don’t know why we have not done it before. La Via Domitia is the name of the walk. When I suggested it to Geoff he said he thought it would be a bit far in one afternoon. I replied that it was only 6 Km. There is always one clever one isn’t there? “ The Via Domitia runs from Italy to Spain “ I was duly informed. I suppose I knew that really because we had seen sections of it when visiting Narbonne but I obviously do not have the same instant recall. If like me your knowledge of said Via Domitia is a bit scant I can recommend “Wikipedia””s reference about it.

Back to the walk. We drove to Pinet as directed in the book ( Wine buffs will know the name,”Picpoul de Pinet). It was necessary to use a large scale map to find the start of the walk but not too difficult. At the beginning of the walk near the car park there was a picnic place, it would be lovely in the spring or summer and children could really let off steam running around. Some creatures can let off steam at any time, Peete being one of them. She really enjoys exploring, sniffing and trail blazing which is allowed as dogs do not have to be on a lead all the time. She showed us where to go next, which was along a path the side of which was covered with purple heather (I think) and also young fir trees. It took us to a lovely view point looking across the vines toward Mont-Saint- Clair, at the foot of which is the town of Sete. At one point on the walk we walked along the Via Domitia and at two other points we crossed over it. Following the circuit we went past fields of vines and also a field that had sunflowers growing in it last year. The birds must have had a hey day with all the seed heads which are now empty. Wild rosemary and pine filled the air with their heady perfumes. I am not clever enough to describe fully the delightfulness of this walk but maybe the photos will help. 

I forgot to say that when driving to Pinet we passed a flock of flamingoes, it was not possible to stop at that place but maybe at the week-end we will return to try and get some pics. We might even go to Bouzigues. More about that next time. Until then keep warm.

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Just a short one this evening. We have just returned from a walk up into town where it is now a lot quieter than it has been for the past month. The novelty of the fair on Allee Paul Riquet has obviously worn off. Just as well really as the stalls are slowly being dismantled. I wander why the slot machines are one of the last to close

Even the tobbogan run has lost its appeal

A last go on the dodgems

Goodbye fair until next Christmas time.