Tuesday and Wednesday, April 22 and 23
Tuesday started out very wet. Even so, we walked all over our little town of Lagrasse and to the ancient abbey just across the river. It wasn't cold, but we were certainly drippy by the time we finished. A very interesting town, even in the rain.
We made it to the boulangerie about 11:50am--a very tricky time to go to a bakery. We wanted to pick up a couple sandwiches so we didn't have to worry about where we'd be during the lunchtime witching hour--noon to 2pm. We were just in time, because about 8 people came in right behind us. Everyone in France--or so it seems--has to stop into their local boulangerie before they close at noon to pick up their baguette for lunch. Madame made our sandwiches while everyone else waited their turn. That's just the way it's done in France. You are served one at a time and in order. If I had wanted to stay and chat with the proprietress, then so be it. Only when I was done would the next person be helped. Fortunately for the people behind us, we aren't very chatty in French and we'd figured out exact change. We paid quickly and moved on, leaving the townsfolk to their critical lunchtime mission.
We continued through the Corbieres hills, enjoying the views. Our destination Tuesday was the Minervois wine region, lying just to the north of Corbieres. This is the home of what is considered the highest quality wine in the Languedoc Roussillon. Our arrival in the Minervois marks the wrap up to our wine area touring. Mostly, we've just wanted to see what the region looks like and get a sense of its different districts. Buying is hard to do when you're traveling, which means we haven't really stopped to taste that often. Once we've interrupted someone's day and taken their time over the tasting, we always feel a bit compelled to buy some wine. But then what? We don't really want to carry it home, and we don't have that many occasions to consume it outside mealtimes, where wine comes from a wine list not from our personal collection. So we've mostly confined ourselves to enjoying locally produced wines at our meals in the different wine regions. On this trip, we've been in the l'Herault, Faugeres, Saint Chinian, Collioures and Banyuls-sur-Mer, Corbieres, and now Minervois. (Did I mention the Languedoc Roussillon is a big wine district?). And we've been enjoying wines from each of these regions. We have purchased only a few.
We had decided to spend a couple nights near La Liviniere, which our wine broker, Bryan, had mentioned as one of his favorite wine region in the Languedoc. As we drove through the village, I spotted a sign for Chateau Sainte-Eulalie. We had really enjoyed one of this producer's wines at a dinner one night in Carcassonne. So, on a whim, we drove outside the town, to the estate, and down a long drive. They were in the process of bottling, so we had to wait a bit. When the proprieter or winemaker--the man who appeared to be in charge--was able to break free, he led us through a tasting of half a dozen of his wines, any of which we'd be happy to have in our cellar. We had a nice visit and a nice tasting, and allowed one bottle to follow us.
Thursday was a day for a bit of a scenic tour. We knew we wanted to visit Minerve, the town that gives this area its name. Our hotel proprieter had enquired about our day's plans. When we mentioned Minerve, he quickly went to get us a local map and showed us the "bonne route" (the best way to go). Rather than the route that looked the most likely on my map, he sent us up into the hills and on a meander through a regional natural park. We drove on a ridge to Minerve, with beautiful views to the valley below. He had also pointed out a place to stop to view an unexpected gorge. There were horses in meadows and quite a few wildflowers. We also saw a couple birds that were new to us. (Our later perusal of a bird book told us they were "busard cendre," a type of buzzard that is very different from any we've seen. They were white, with black wingtips and looked like hawks in flight.
Minerve is situated spectacularly, set down below the countryside from which we approached it and surrounded on three sides by a gorge carved by two rivers. It is quite ancient (what isn't in this region?) and a real treat to walk through. When you first see it, it looks like such an unlikely place for a town to spring up. But I suppose it is both a strategic and more easily defended site.
To fit in seamlessly with our experience of visiting castles, we had to walk a steep pair of switchbacks to the village--in this case, down. The only difference this time was that this day's path had been paved at some point. Not to worry, though, Minerve's streets were cobbled.
We returned to our valley location, feeling quite fortunate to have seen such beautiful sights while in the Languedoc. Our time here is at an end, but we feel we got to sample much of what the area has to offer. The beauty took us by surprise, as did the depth of the history and the intensity of the connection to Spain. This time has been a real travel success. Now on to the next chapter of our adventure.
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