Spring Might Be Coming To The Languedoc
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.
