The Beziers Blog

Hello everybody I hope you have all had the sort of New Year that you wished for. We actually spent the evening at home and had a very English dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding followed by the Christmas pudding that did not get eaten on Christmas day. Although New Year was quiet things certainly livened up on Friday the 2^nd. To cut a long story short. A few months ago I answered a request in the Nursing Standard about the benefits or negatives of retiring abroad. I must have made a little impact because just before Christmas a lovely lady contacted me to ask if they could send down a photographer to take pics for her article. Of course I said that would be fine and on Friday Charlie arrived.

We went to collect him from Beziers airport and drove him around the town before returning to the house for dinner. He said he was amazed at the size of the town as he had imagined it would be like a village. Tut tut Charlie had not done his homework, not that he had had much time to do anything. Anyway after dinner and of course a couple of glasses of a local wine Charlie went to bed as he was weary after travelling. It was arranged that he would take the photos on Saturday and could we have blue skies please? Geoff and I were a little worried as we had been having some very grey wet days since Christmas. Oh us of little faith, the morning positively bloomed and Charlie was like a dog with two tails.

He wanted to take photos of us (risky) with the cathedral as a back drop. It took us 3 minutes to walk to the spot where he started to click away with his camera. Now, having my picture taken is not something I enjoy and after an hour or more of smiling I like it even less. How those models can pose and smile for a living I will never know. Eventually he thought he had finished so we carried on walking up to the cathedral. A very impressive edifice with lovely views across the region. Actually the views from the top of the tower are very good as well but the curator was on his dinner break so we could not go up. After the cathedral we walked around the town and into the gardens. We had booked up at one of our favourite restaurants for dinner that evening so we headed back home for a petite sieste Guess what Charlie did on the way back , He got that flipping camera out again. He said it was a shame to miss the afternoon light. We did get back home and had a catnap before going out to dinner at the “ Cep D’Or” Everybody ate too much and probably drank a little too much as well but the walk home (downhill) sorted us all out.

Sunday brought us another beautiful day. We gave Charlie a bit of a whistle stop tour of the area. 1st stop was Les Halles as you can see from the photos a colourful mouth-watering place. I particularly like the trimming around the bar !!!! 2^nd port of call the beach at Serignan. Although it was a little bit windy we could have sun bathed according to Charlie. Final place to visit was the oppidum near Nissan lez Enserunes. Finally arrived back at the house feeling a little tired, must have been all that fresh air and sunshine. Geoff cooked a very nice chilli and a relaxing evening was had by all .

Charlie was booked on a flight this afternoon so we all went for a walk this morning along the canal which also gave him a chance to see the Neuf Ecluses (9 locks). I think he enjoyed his stay and hopefully will have some good pictures and nice memories of the start of 2009.

Well I have rambled on a bit with this one but I hope it is not too boring and that you all enjoy the pictures.

Here we are on the 26^st December, Boxing day. On Sunday 21^st, the shortest day, there was wall to wall sunshine and the temperature was about 16 degrees centigrade, beautiful. It would have been a shame to waste this lovely day so we popped Peetes harness on and went for a drive. Of course because it was Sunday we went into town first to buy the Sunday paper, we only buy it to do the crosswords. After collecting the paper we drove up to the cathedral to see if there was snow on the Pyrenees, which there was but the sun was not in the right place to take a decent photo. That made us decide which way we should drive which was west towards Narbonne and Perpignan. Maybe we could get nearer to Mount Canigou (part of the Pyrenees) to take some pics. Well the intentions were good but we got slightly side tracked. After passing Narbonne we turned off to the right and headed into the Corbieres region. The wine buffs among you readers will think of some of the beautiful wines that come from this place.

Wine is not the only interesting feature of the area, hence the title of the article. The Cathars otherwise called the Albigensians are closely linked with the Languedoc and there is strong evidence of them all around the Corbieres. Nearly every village bears scars left after the crusades of the 13^th century. There are many ruins of castles all around ,they usually stand tall against the skyline. We photographed 3 of the ruins the 1^st of which was in Durban. This ruin was built by the kings of Aragon and remodelled in the 16 th century. We stopped in Durban for a coffee. While we were in the bar about 20 young men came into the bar and it seemed very strange to see that they all drank either coffee or syrup not one alcoholic drink between them, imagine that happening in a bar in the U.K.

The second was the Chateau d’Aguilhar which was lovely to walk around and the fact that there were a lot of rustic signs which gave the names of the various wild plants growing in the vicinity. The 3^rd one was Chateau St Martin which we were unable to visit but photographed from the road.

On the way home we stopped at the Oppidum d’Enserune because the evening light was so good that we took some photographs from each direction to enable us to show you a little more of the history of this place. The Oppidum was a place occupied by the Greeks and the Romans and there is a very interesting museum showing many of the artefacts that have been found. It also overlooks the Etang de Montady which was an inland lake years ago. Then a local lord decided to drain it to enable the local people to use the ground (which was very rich) to grow a variety of crops. The different strips of land radiate from a central drain (plug hole) like the rays of the sun. Sorry but it is easier to explain when it can be seen..

Well this is really a short update but may I finish it off by hoping everybody had a good Christmas and wish you all a “Bonne Fin d’Annee” ie Happy New Year.

Hello Everybody

Are we depressed because of the economic crisis? No. Even less so this evening than we were this morning following a visit to Montpellier where we had arranged to see our bank manager. That in itself is wonderful, just to be able to pick up the phone and speak to the man himself. We do not end up speaking to someone in India or where-ever the call centres for U.K. banks are. We needed to adjust our finances slightly and were able to do this with his very pleasant attitude and help.

After leaving the bank we were able to treat ourselves to dejeuner (lunch) in an Indian restaurant that is situated in one of the historic parts of Montpellier. The Bombay Restaurant is a bit like the Tardis, a very small frontage but seating for about 70 people inside. Today we did eat inside but in the summer we have enjoyed a meal outside. As we entered we were welcomed and shown to a table where we could sit without Peete (the dog) getting in anybody’s way. We have never had a problem with taking her into a restaurant and so long as she has a bowl of water she settles down quietly until we have finished. O.k. she very occasionally gets a tit-bit but this is as a treat not the norm. Anyway back to our meal. What did we fancy? I must have been in greedy mode because I really fancied a Thali. Three small starters, Samosa. Pakora and Salad, followed by two different curries, Prawn and Chicken served with basmati rice and Naan bread. Did I say greedy? Suffice to say my eyes were bigger than my stomach but every mouthful was lovely. Of course we had to have some wine with the meal and finished off with a very good cafe grande crème. Even the bank manager would not object to the bill that was less than 40 euros for the two of us.

Feeling warm and replete we left the restaurant and went to look around the Christmas market that was arranged all around the Place de la Comedie which is the in the centre of Montpellier. I must admit I was surprised to see soooo many people about, so much so that I asked Geoff if they had not got jobs to go to. Golly I am beginning to sound old !!!!No comment. There was between 75 and a 100 stalls (no I did not count them) They were all very pretty and we could have spent a fortune if we had had one. It is difficult to capture the essence or the atmosphere with a camera but I have done my best.

We also went into the Polygone shopping centre mainly to look and also to warm up a little as it was starting to get a bit chilly. Again we tried to photograph some of the decorations and they do not look too bad, probably because Geoff took them. At about 4.30 we decided to return home to Beziers and at 6 o/clock we were sitting in the house with a cup of tea. Very British you know !!!

That’s about all for now, I have not forgotten to tell you about the fair in Beziers and I will do so next time. Until then do not stress out . IT IS NEARLY CHRISTMAS.

  Well it is definitely coming, Christmas that is. We have left the car  parked up this week-end, typical of us now petrol prices are falling we walk.  Yesterday we walked along the lanes passing a couple of vineyards en-route, now that is not typical of us passing the vineyards I mean,after all if you do not visit the different caves how do you know which is best. However tasting was not on the agenda as we walked,just enjoying the blue sky and the surrounding scenery. As is almost inevitable we eventually ended by the canal. This part of the walk is always lovely whatever the season, the colours of the trees reflected in the water prompts the amateur photographer to try and capture the scenes. Maintenance work is often necessary on the canal and there is some being carried out at the moment. It is strange to see the huge locks and the basin devoid of water but what is good is that the only rubbish we saw was the natural deposit of leaves and detritus. Not a trolly, bike wheel or pram in sight. This is also true of the rivers in the region, maybe because unlike the U.K. river warders are still in regular employment. I will probably be corrected on that statement but it is a possibility.

  Today we walked up into the town centre to see if the festive season was in evidence and yes it was. At the top of the Allee Paul Riquet in front of the theatre the “Marche de Noel” was in full flow. There are about 35 small wooden huts all brightly lit and decorated.  It was nice to see so many families spending the afternoon together and all enjoying the atmosphere. One of my favourite stalls was the one selling Santons. These are little figurines representing not only the nativity group but also many local occupations and crafts.  Santons first came into existence during the French revolution when the national assembly closed the churches. They did this to stop the influence of the cur’es on the populace.  People still wanted to see the nativity scenes so at great risk to themselves they made tiny models that could be easily hidden. If caught with these models they were sent to the guillotine—Happy Xmas.  Thankfully this situation did not last and in 1798 a man made and sold a nativity scene his name was  Jean Louis Lagnell, he went on to make and sell many more. Hence a new craft of Santonnier was born.

        After looking at the stalls we called into a bar for a hot chocolate and hoped that by the time we came out the christmas lights would be on.  We slightly misjudged the time so walked in the park to pass the time, eventually we did manage to get some pics.  We also watched the huge fairground vehicules manoeuvring along the Allee ready to build the annual Christmas fair. Perhaps I will be able to show you some of this spectacle next time.  Until then happy preparations.

A little late on parade this week. I have been pretending to be a domesticated housewife. Doing things like making marmalade and mincemeat. Although I enjoy cooking I am not normally so quick off the mark. After all the oranges are only just ripe for eating and some of them went into the marmalade. It took a little nudge to get me going and make sure the cupboard was restocked. The nudge was received at the week-end when we visited the first Christmas fete of the season. Trust the Brits to get in first. There is a free publication that we get down here called Blah Blah Blah. It has many contributors both French and foreign ie Brits, Canadians and Americans. It was this paper that organised the fete. It was held in a chateau just outside the village of Roujan. To get to Roujan we drove along the road that leads to Pezenas but turn off and head towards Servian a small village which I believe has a history linking it with the Cathars. That will make a good research project I think Passing through Servian we head toward the village of Espondeilhan another place which I will have to find out about. Roujan was the next place that we came to,oh dear it looks like a long term project all I know is that it is a circular village.

. Never mind at least I can tell you about the fete. It was held in the Chateau Abbaye-de-Cassan It was a beautiful mellow stone building of the 12^th century the grounds in which it stands are open well maintained spaces filled with trees and overlooking some of the vineyards of the area. It was really good to be able to slowly walk around the ground floor where all the stalls were set out. For the people that were looking for presents there was certainly a lot of choice. Many local artisans were displaying there wares, handmade clothes, jewellery , glassware, paintings and tapestries to name but a few. As I said at the beginning it was here that I received the proverbial kick to make the marmalade etc. Two or three of the stalls were selling homemade Christmas cakes, puddings and other seasonal goodies. My friend, Lamia, was curious to know what some of the English food tasted like. Well I had already done the cake and the puddings but as she is spending Christmas day with us I thought I had better make some mincepies. Yes I could have bought the mincemeat but thought it would be nice to make my own. God bless Delia Smith. We spent well over two hours looking around and of course doing a little disgusting (degustation) tasting the local wines. Pity it was Sunday and I was driving so I only had very little sips.

As we left the chateau the people were still arriving they certainly had a huge multi-cultural turnout .We finished the day out by stopping for a coffee on the way home.

Beziers is just beginning to get the Christmas spirit, the lights are going up and the Christmas market is starting. Hopefully I will be able to show you all next time.

  Sunday 23rd November. A special day for me as it is my daughters birthday.  No I will not say how old she is suffice to say she is old enough to have produced 2 lovely sons. I know I am biased but they are great boys and I do miss them a lot. We miss all of the family but although we do not live near we are still close.

   Anyway a birthday near or far is a good reason to celebrate a little bit.  We celebrated by driving to St. Chinian. It was a bright and blustery day (there is that bear again) and the drive which is not far goes through some interesting little places.  After the village of Maureilhan, a small pretty place ,we arrived at Puisserguier. It did not look very interesting until we got out of the car and had  a walk around . We saw a 12th century castle and a Romanesque church. Maybe if it had not been sunday we would have browsed in the little shops. Continuing on our way we reached Cebazan. We felt impelled to take a photo of a painting on the side of a house. This lead to a debate, subject.  Was it a mural? or was it trompe l’oeil? After some discussion we decided in our opinion the large painting was a mural and the small one was more like trompe l’oeil. It was necessary to make haste so that we would arrive at St Chinian before the market closed.

   St Chinian is not a big town but it can get very busy. It is well known for the Cave des Vignerons which sells the A.O.C.  (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) wines gathered from the surrounding villages. There are many varieties of wine and I am sure that some of you reading this will have a far greater knowledge than I do. Suffice to say I know what I like.  When we did arrive at the market it was still in full flow and after wandering around we made a couple of purchases. Cheese, surprise surprise fancy buying cheese in France. Actually it was a surprise because one cheerful stall holder was selling cheddar cheese. Not the plastic wrapped variety but a whole truckle (why can’t I find that word in a dictionary?) he also had some Blue Stilton or as he said Stilton Bleu . He was fun to be with for a few minutes as he practised his language skills,  German with the lady at the front of the queue, Spanish with the next gentleman and then English with us. To coin a phrase “Didn’t he do well”. We also bought some hot chestnuts off another cheery chap  who was delighted when I asked permission to take his photo.

 By this time we had worked up an appetite for lunch so we looked around for somewhere to eat. We selected a bar restaurant called de la Paix. Not special, not expensive but warm and welcoming. Starters, main course and dessert all for 20 euros. Each plate had something to recommend it but I must admit my dessert of mint-choc chip icecream with creme de menthe could easily have pushed me over the drink drive limit. We naturally had to have wine with our meal and we chose a La Madura not one we had tried before but one we will have again if we see it.

      After the meal and a stroll with Peete it was time to return home,not because it was late but sometimes a “petit sieste” is definitely called for.

      What have we got planned? we don’t know. Whatever we do I will let you all know.  ttfn

As we had promised ourselves we visited Pezenas today. Saturdays are always market day there and the atmosphere is buzzing .It does not matter what time of the year it is there is something going on. Today there was a local band and many people stopped to listen to them. Those that did not actually stop certainly had a lighter spring in their step as they walked passed.

One of the shops that we like to visit while we are in Pezenas is the English Bookshop. The lady there is always welcoming and helpful. Books are not the only thing on sale in the shop she also gets shipped over from the U.K. some of the things that the ex-pats miss. It probably sounds pathetic when I tell you some of the things that I personally miss. Beef suet, mincemeat and Heinz tomato soup are the three things that I bought today, unfortunately the lady did not have any currants (damn). After visiting the bookshop we went to look for a teashop that we had heard about. We found it very easily about 5 minutes walk from the bookshop. What a lovely little place a proper little teashop with china tea services and china mugs filled to the brim with hot chocolate and whipped cream. They also sell some english produce and guess what?.Yes they had currants (I can make the xmas cake now)

Pezenas is not a big town but it is a mixture of old and new architecture. There are lots of snickety (Xandra word) little lanes, in the season these lanes are full of local craft shops and gift places in the winter some of the places close but it is still an interesting place to visit. The local Office de Tourisme offers a route map to be followed on foot and the map gives all the pertinent details of the buildings and their history. If anyone visits Pezenas it is a fun exercise to look for all the different door knockers. I do not think the ladies among you will object if your partners go looking for knockers.

Saturday is now at an end but maybe tomorrow we can explore somewhere else. Hope you enjoy the photos.

P.S Snickety a self explanatory family word.

Well the good intention’s continue. Although I am not sure where I am going with this particular post.

Like everywhere else in Europe the 11^th November is remembered with due reverence and respect. To be honest I think a little more respect than is shown in some other countries. It did seem strange to us though not to see any poppies on display. We know that this is a symbol adopted by the U.K. But some habits die hard. Maybe being brought up by an ex R.S.M. has something to do with it.

On a more cheerful subject Christmas is approaching fast. I know this because of the date not because of what I see when we go out. For instance we went shopping this morning into one of the big complexes “Auchan”. I had taken the camera with me to prove a point. Not a sign of the forthcoming season to be seen. I did hear a Christmas carol in one of the shops but that was it. I can imagine what it is like in the U.K. Where Christmas seems to be all around before the end of October. Next month I will enjoy showing you all how Beziers looks when the lights are turned on and the Christmas market stalls are opened. It really does seem right then that everybody is starting to celebrate.

In the meantime what do we do with ourselves? Geoff continues doing jobs around the house. Joy of joys at the moment he is replacing the guttering at the back of the house. I think he is praying that it does not rain before the job is done. He spent a pleasant hour (she says tongue in cheek )yesterday at Bricoman buying all the necessary pipes, brackets etc. I must admit to not having the patience to queue at the check out after selections are made. I think maybe that is one area in which the British stores are a little better, though I would not be surprised for some people to disagree with me. Me? Well I have made the Christmas puddings and attempted to make a cake. Not up to the required standard so we ate it. Why was it not good you may ask. Well I am having some difficulty finding currants and sultanas down here. I know they are there somewhere but they are being very evasive. If anybody reads this and lives in the Languedoc all help and advice gratefully received.

Our other time consuming passion is Peete. She is a mongrel that we adopted from the S.P.A. The french equivalent of the R.S.P.C.A.. She is lovely but very energetic and needs lots of long walks. What better excuse to skive off the housework by having to walk along the canal du Midi or around the chemin rural (country lanes.) On that pleasant note I will leave you for a while. On Saturday we are going to Pezenas, hopefully more to tell you all after that.

October gone, November half way through. They say time passes quickly when you get older but that is not really an excuse. So what have we been doing since mother left ? Well before she actually departed some friends from England called in for a cup of tea !!! That was on a Thursday they left on the Sunday. Well it took a long time for the kettle to boil. Whilst they were here we visited one of our favourite restaurants in Beziers called the Cep d’Or No, not the golden mushroom as we thought, but the golden grape. Presumably from the word cepage which is the grape harvest. Anyway back to the restaurant, it is small but the food is always (in our opinion )very good. It is in the centre of Beziers so involves a quite steep walk to get to it.

After the meal and ample glasses of wine the walk back down the hill is not only easy but good for the digestion. Of course during their stay a quantity of wine consumed at home slightly reduced supplies so a visit to St. Genies de Fontedit to replenish the stock was necessary. Reynardiere is the name of the cave that we visit normally so we took Nigel and Sue there. Good job they had a car because they would not have got their purchases back to the U.K on the plane. Can you blame them when they bought 10 litres of white and 10 litres of rose’ for about 35 euros. That works out at approximately GBP 1.40 a litre. Before they left they both said what a relaxing few days they had had and will hopefully return for a longer stay.

So the end of the visitor season (or is it ?) What did we do with our time? At the end of October there are many reasons for festivals of all sorts. One that we enjoy is the Fete de Noix or in english the nut festival.

 There are several but the one we went to this year was at St. Pons de Thomieres. It certainly attracts the crowds and the smell of roasting chestnuts fills the air. Many artisans take the opportunity to display and sell their wares. Homemade goodies, jams, cakes, sweets etc, as well as local cheeses and wines. Shame I was driving but I was assured the wines were nice ( thank you ) There was also an exhibition of patchwork, some of the designs were truly incredible. There was also the odd bear on display so my day was complete. After leaving St Pons we drove home via a place called Roquebrun. The evening sunshine enabled us to take some interesting photos. There is a mediterranean garden there but as yet we have not visited it but we have all the time in the world so that is on the to do list.

Well dear reader that brings us into November and I will endeavour to keep you informed in a more up to date manner.

Oh dear- so many good intentions. Who said retired people have time on their hands?  I will now endeavour to be more organised and bring you good people up to date.

 Mothers holiday- Well we managed to visit several places in the region. While she was here it was necessary to visit Montpellier to have a look in Ikea. Bad move really (the Ikea bit I mean)  They are very large stores aren’t they?  After about 15 minutes Mum had had enough, her leg was sore and she was bored. (See it is not just the youngsters) Anyway we had seen and priced what we thought we wanted so we left.  It was possible to leave the car at the tram park and catch the tram into the city.  By the time we got there it was coming up to lunchtime, a very good excuse to visit the Entrecote, a favourite restaurant.  They only serve steak with frites, all they want to know is how you want it cooked.

It was ideal for Mum because she only has a small appetite, this meant she had a plate and shared mine and Geoff’s.  The steak was cut into thin small slices and served with their own special homemade sauce, laid out on individual serving trays.  After lunch we very slowly strolled around the Place de la Comedie.  Montpellier is a very beautiful city with a mixture of old and new architecture.  Again I did not think it through and Mum got weary very quickly (where has that spritely lady of old gone?).  Before when we visited with her we wandered and looked for ages.  The fountains, the street-side cafes and the snickety little side streets are all well worth seeing.  On this visit however after 1 hour we left, caught the tram, collected the car and came home.  The day taught us a lesson - walking was out of the question.

During her holiday we drove to many interesting places just to see the views.  The river at Cessenon-sur-Orb, the lakes in the Haut Languedoc and also the beach at Serignan Plage.