It’s not all fun and games in Beziers
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.
Tags: Bouzigues, Marseillan