It’s January!

January and we’ve turned the corner. The days get longer, the sun sets behind the hill later each day – and lights up the hill earlier; this photo is of the sunrise.

Some days we sit outside in the afternoon, on others the wind is fresh and we retreat indoors. The major works on the vegetable garden are progressing.

The rivers are full after the autumn storms.

We take down the Christmas decorations and look forward to the Spring ahead.

And what of Lodeve?

And what of Lodève? An autumn with heavy storms, strong winds and rain. However, as it was very dry in September and October, the weeds had not had chance to take hold. As Christmas approached the sun appeared and we have sat outside on several days.

For the Christmas meal (venison) I had hoped to buy some red Puech Auger wine which I had tasted at Montpeyroux Caves Ouvertes in the Spring. We left messages on their answerphones – no response – so decided to drive round that way one morning. There was no sign of life; in fact the other shops seemed to be shut up too. I presume that you don’t expect to buy your wine there at that time of year. Or maybe they had sold it all to China. I do wonder why they didn’t respond to my messages though. Anyway, here’s the champagne we enjoyed on Christmas Day.

There has been much activity in the garden. Christian our neighbour has found a man to clear and widen the path down He and his assistant do it all in two days.

We’re now waiting for him to come back and install the fence he has bought to keep out the wild boar.
And there are always the olive trees to prune…

Heading South

When we arrived in Montpellier we were sad to find that they were in the process of demolishing the Lizard Bar, where we had hoped to sit. It was a sunny spot and a good place to pass an hour or so waiting for the bus to Lodève with a beer or a green tea. We watched its demolition from the café opposite the station.

Parts of Montpellier have been a chaotic building site for over a year now as they build a new tram line. We hope that the resulting improvements will be worth the wait, like the road from Montpellier to Lodève which took several years and many frustrating traffic jams to complete but now means that you can do the journey in 45 minutes.

Paris perspectives

We like to stop off in Paris on our journeys from Birmingham to Lodeve if we get the chance, and there are always new places to go. On a fresh Sunday monrning in December we climbed to the top of the hill in the Parc de Buttes Chaumont, which gives some diffent views over Paris. The Parc is popular with joggers; there are many paths and you can avoid the hils if you like.

After lunch we headed towards the Grands Magasins to see their window displays (covered in last year’s blog!), and later followed the signs in Galeries Lafayette to the roof top where we had yet more views of Paris.

In the evening we enjoyed an excellent meal at Chez Francoise, a restaurant hidden away under the Air France terminal at the Invalides. On Sunday evenings they have unlimited oysters as a starter. We managed 18 each. The next morning it was time to take the train to the South.

Happy Christmas!

Saint Petersburg

Galeries Lafayette, Paris

and Lodeve!

Passing though Paris

I passed through Paris the other weekend, to see my son run the Marathon in Reims. 8.25 bus from Lodève, 10.20 train from Montpellier and I was in Paris by 1.50. It doesn’t take too long to walk from the Gare de Lyon to Gare de l’Est to catch the train to Reims. You head first towards Place de la Bastille, then on to Place de la République. This is where I found a café for a green tea. Parisians were enjoying the afternoon sun, which it has to be said was nothing like the Mediterranean sun. It’s another 10 minutes walk after that to Gare de l’Est.
Whenever I have been at République over the years there always seem to have been demonstrations; on this occasion it was something to do with Syria. I couldn’t see any demonstrators – maybe they would arrive later – but the police were out in force.
On my return journey I had champagne in my rucksack, so I took the metro. I had time for a pastis at the Big Ben Bar at the Train Bleu before catching the train to Montpellier and the sun.

Puces d’Art at Salasc

The annual Puces d’Art (flea market) at Salasc, on the slopes near Lac du Salagou, takes place in early October The local artists offer their works for sale before the winter sets in and the tourists are gone.

The sun occasionally lights up the hills around. In a day or two the warm weather will return, but for now the wind is cold and the coffees from the coffee stall are very welcome.

October days

I’d planned to keep up with the blog but was frustrated by problems with a new internet box (Why didn’t I keep the old one? Do we really need internet TV?) As I write this the weather is autumnal and it has rained for the first time since I’m not sure when. Earlier in October we had lots of sunshine and it was a great time for my favourite Muscat grapes. The man at Lodève market was starting to pack up his stall and sold me all these grapes for 2 euros.

Now it’s Autumn it’s time for the vin nouveau, with various events round and about. I was invited to an aperitif at the local wine shop to celebrate the primeur. The invitation said 7.00, but we had to wait for 45 minutes until the manager arrived before we could have a glass of wine. “Only in Lodeve” people muttered. The nibbles when we finally got to eat them were enjoyable, the primeur perhaps not one of the best – too fruity with not enough body, in myopinion.

A drive to Avène

Getting behind with the blog as usual. I hope to catch up soon. Here’s one to be going on with.

On a warm day in late August we drove with some friends to Lunas, which is in the hills to the west of Lodève. and then further on up into the hills to Avène. On the way we stopped for lunch at Restaurant Bourrel in Truscas (Actually this was the main reason for our outing). The clientele consisted of locals who obviously come in their lunch hour regularly, and a few people like us. We spent a pleasant lunch hour in the shade of the trees.

Here’s the exciting bit; we had the 16 euro menu which included:

1.melon
2. paté
3. omelette (mushrooms or fines herbes)
4. Main course with ratatouille-
coq au vin,
roast lamb
confit de canard
5. Dessert
cheese/ tart / chocolate mousse (recommended!)
and 25 cl red wine

The restaurant is family run, overseen by the grandmother who was originally from Lodève.

After lunch we drove on to Avene, where there is a spa and a factory which produces a range of skin products. We weren’t tempted to enter but drove on past the lake, which is actually a reservoir, before heading back to Lodeve on a road with views over to the Lac du Salagou. (Sorry I’ve no photos for that!)

August at the seaside

The obligatory August trip to the seaside, to the Plage des Aresquiers near Frontigngan, which has become one of our favourites. You walk from the car park along the beach until you’ve had enough and there is a clear patch of sand (maybe after 40 minutes); then you sit and eat your quiches from the bakers and watch the windsurfers in the distance.