Cooking chez nous

We just love this little apartment in Narbonne because of the kitchen--and the nearby market. It means we can head out during the day but plan to cook and eat at home each night. To us this is the absolute best way to explore places.

Take today for example, we headed out around 9:00 am after a breakfast of toast and jam and coffee made here in the Bodum. Our direction today was south and we didn't know exactly how far we would get. We took the side roads beside the etangs (the salt marshes between the highway and the Mediterranean. Sadly I can't show you pictures of the étangs because we were deluged by a strong rainstorm as we drove along them. However when we got to Argelés the rain stopped and we joined in a fête de fleurs.



We enjoyed a cafe au lait there and then headed south to a couple of other spots down near the Spanish border.  It's like a mini French Riviera there, but maybe less crowded, although maybe not. It turns out that today is in the middle of yet another long weekend. May is full of holidays and when they occur on a Tuesday people choose to bridge the gap and make it a four-day weekend. This is the second weekend in a row that this has happened.  Good for the French for taking holidays at this time of year!

We ended up visiting three different spots: Argelés sur Mer, Port-Vendres, and Banyuls-sur-Mer. All had a very French Riviera feeling, probably because there were lots of visitors due to the long weekend. After a lovely lunch of seafood we lingered in these spots until around 4:30, when we headed back north to Narbonne.  When we arrived we found that the wind was gone, the air was warm and everything was perfect for a dinner of soup that was waiting in the fridge, as well as salad with tomatoes and delicious strawberries. We so enjoyed being home in our little apartment looking out on the canal as evening came on.









There were some other residents of Narbonne who were also looking forward to cooking tonight. Three fellows were fishing along the canal. I hope they enjoyed their dinner as much as we did.

Along the abbey road in Corbières

We drove away from the coast yesterday into the hill country west of Narbonne. Our goal was to escape the wind and visit two different abbeys. This region known as the Corbières, is rocky and hilly with winding roads, valleys,  sleepy villages--and extensive vineyards.  It has a long history and was once the heart of Cathar territory, where religious wars between Catholics and the heretic Cathars (also known as Albigensians) who wanted to reform the church,  tore the region apart in the 12th Century.  Religious wars of one sort or another continued in this area for hundreds of years.

Driving through the area we saw remnants of fortified hill-top towns, ruined castles, and medieval villages each with a lofty church. Our first destination was the Abbaye de Fontfroide, a 12th Century Cistercian abbey. It's been added to and changed over the centuries but is remarkably well-preserved.  During the Middle Ages it was one of the most powerful abbeys in Europe and played a major role during the crusade against the Cathars. It was saved from ruin in 1908 when it was purchased by a wealthy couple who restored it.

This is the interior of the church with beautiful stained glass windows created in the early 1900s. And on the right the chapter house where the monks met with the Prior every morning.

The picture below is where the lay brothers (who did the work in the fields) slept on straw pallets.

This is looking down on the cloisters and below, two more views of them.

We had a wonderful lunch in the dining room, originally a sheep fold and then headed off to the next abbey in the medieval village of La Grasse.  Here's a bit of what we saw along the way. Many of the roads here are lined with tall Plane trees to form a tunnel, almost like a Gothic arch. And of course the roadsides are dotted with poppies, just coming into bloom as the Wisteria fades.



I apologize for the poor quality of these photos. I'm taking them with my iPhone and then emailing them to myself for inclusion here. The wifi where we're staying is very slow so the images are kind of blurry. But they'll give you an idea of what we're seeing.

Here's a few views of La Grasse, also listed as one of the "plus beaux villages de France" with good reason. It has lots of narrow winding streets where people from many countries live and create art. It was a little early in the season for much to be open though.


























This is the Abbey of La Grasse which lies across the river by way of the 14th Century bridge. We didn't go into this one because we were ready to head back to Narbonne.  As Harry keeps telling me, "You can't see all of it on one trip."






By the way, we got back to Narbonne to find the wind still blowing strong. But this morning it's abated and we have a somewhat cloudy, drizzly day and sunshine is predicted for this afternoon.

Venturing out from Narbonne

We spent a couple days exploring Narbonne and settling into our lovely apartment. We're here for the next ten days so there will be lots of time to head out in different directions to explore.

Yesterday we went to Les Halles, the covered market that's open every day. This market has been operating here for more than 100 years in a gorgeous building and it's a treasure trove of fresh food of all kinds: cheese, sausage, chicken, fish, vegetables and fruits, bread, salad greens.....

We watched a young woman picking out the fruits and vegetables she wanted and putting them in the plastic bin before handing them to the cashier--so that's what we did. People are very kind and helpful even with our strangled speech.  Harry was happy to get into the kitchen and make one of his trademark soups. We will be eating this for dinner for the next few nights.

Our plan while we're here is to take the car and explore villages and sights to the north and west and south each day, perhaps stopping for lunch somewhere and then returning here to our little apartment for a quiet evening. This morning we decided to head north to Béziers, about an hour north from here. Our destination was chosen this morning after looking at the weather for various places nearby. We are experiencing brutal winds here in Narbonne and we were looking for somewhere a little more peaceful, weather-wise.

Béziers is an ancient town with a bloody history, although it seemed quite quiet today. We walked from the commercial area in the centre to the cathedral built in the 13th Century, then back up to the plaza which is under construction for a pleasant lunch, sheltered from the wind.


On our way back we stopped at a little village by the name of Le Somail, that we'd heard of from our friends Jennifer and Jim, who cycled through this area a couple of years ago. Their cycle trip along the Canal du Midi ended in this little town, which they really liked. By the time we got there though the wind was wild, blowing straight down the canal. There were some cyclists and boaters there who looked pretty miserable. The town itself was very sweet but it's amazing how your experience can be affected by a windstorm.  We could see how lovely it would be on a drowsy sunny afternoon but that wasn't our experience today.

Tonight is our second night of high winds in Narbonne. The wind blows in from the Mediterranean and whips straight down the Canal. It's 40 kilometers gusting to 60 and I have to say it's unsettling. The prediction is for it to moderate tomorrow and that's what we're hoping for.  Meanwhile we're enjoying the comforts of our apartment here.  Tomorrow we may head south.... or west.... It depends on the weather forecast.

Rain in Carcassonne, wind in Narbonne

We left Albi in the rain on Sunday for our drive to the Medieval city of Carcassonne. It was heavy rain all the way over the Montagne Noire and into Carcassone. I've heard about this place for years and was really excited to see a 700 year old intact Medieval city. This photo shows the walls and towers of la Cité from a terrace in our hotel. For some reason they have painted the front of the castle with patches of neon yellow. We're told it's to celebrate 20 years of being a Unesco heritage site. I think its strange that they would celebrate this by defacing the monument--but then again, they didn't ask for my opinion.

Once settled in our hotel, we braved the rain to walk up to the  Medieval City--but all we saw was crowds of tourists carrying umbrellas. The whole place was crowded with French families and it turns out that this is a national holiday. The French celebrate May Day in a big way and this year it falls on a Tuesday so everyone takes the Monday off as well to make a four-day weekend. After braving the crowds for a bit we walked back down the hill and found a nice cozy restaurant for dinner. I enjoyed a comforting cassoulet--just the thing for a rainy evening.



The following day after checking out of our hotel we headed into la Cité one more time. We wandered the narrow streets filled with stores selling candies, wooden swords, postcards and other tourist trinkets, crowded with excited kids and parents. It was hard to see much or get a sense of what this place might have been 700 years ago. It felt more like Disneyland, actually.

We admired a lovely rose window in the huge Gothic church and a niche in one of the outer walls, then had a drink and headed back to our car for the drive to Narbonne. We're thinking we may return during the week sometime when it's less crowded, although it may be that these famous places are just too full of visitors to be experienced the way I prefer. I am always wanting to wander around and get lost in the sense of the past. That's kind of impossible with crowds of tourists. I guess I'm about 50 years too late.

It's only about an hour's drive into Narbonne but the feeling here is quite different. For one thing it's near the Mediterranean. Originally it was a Roman harbour but the area silted up in the 1300's so it's now about 15 km from the beach. However it's still very watery because of the saltwater lagoons nearby and the canals that thread through the city. Our apartment is on the Canal Robine, an offshoot of the famous Canal du Midi, a marvel of engineering and beauty that runs from Toulouse to the port at Sète, featuring 99 locks. Begun in 1667 to accommodate barges of up to 100 feet, the canal was a huge success--until the railway opened in the late 1800s. The canal has been revived recently as route for canal boats and barges.

Our apartment is right on the Canal Robine, which has both live-aboard and rental canal boats.  Here's what it looked like yesterday as we crossed it on a footbridge.





The apartment is very darling with a large kitchen, living room overlooking the canal and two nice bedrooms. It's within walking distance to the historic centre of town and the covered market and has free parking for our little car.

It's a perfect place to spend the next 12 days.  Except for the wind.

Adeline warned us about the wind here and today it's been really strong. So strong that we turned back after about a 20 minute walk even though we were bundled up in our warmest clothes.  The prediction is for wind for the next couple of days with better weather to follow.  We're hoping that will be the case.

Meanwhile we have a lovely place to hang around in and a sweet little car to take drives in, so we're not really complaining.

By the way, that's our little Fiat 500, christened with the name Pearlie, right in the middle of this photo taken from the balcony of our sweet Narbonne apartment.