Friday 15th
July 2016
Béziers
So how long
did the band go on for last night? I have no idea.
Chris was still awake at midnight and it was still going strong then. However he then dropped off, so it did not
disturb us to any great extent.
We woke that
morning to the horrendous news of the carnage in Nice – Chris picked up from
conversations in the boulangerie that something had occurred and we are
grateful to have Sky news to keep us in touch with the world.
So today the
plan was to visit Béziers in the morning and take the trip on the boat down and
up the locks in the afternoon. This,
however, was not to be as the boat was fully booked! We booked for Monday, so
hopefully it will be third time lucky.
As we had
planned we took the Petit Train into Béziers.
There was a
good commentary via headphones, so not only was it a stress free way to get
into a town we were unfamiliar with, but it was also very informative. It
afforded a few photo opportunities, but you had to be quick as it was rather
bumpy. The route took us down from the locks alongside Le Canalette which at this time of year is little more
than a damp ditch. Across L’Orb with the
Pont Canal (this bridge takes the Canal du Midi over l’Orb) on our right
And distant
view of Pont Neuf and the cathedral on our left
Past the
Polygone which is a new area of commerce
We never
found out what was behind here, but you would think it must be fairly grand to
warrant such a splendid gate!
The train then made
a detour off the road into a park. It
whetted our appetites to such an extent that we went back on foot later in the
day
We alighted
from Le Petit Train in Allées Paul Riquet right by the man himself
It is
slightly unfortunate that the local birds have been using his head for target
practice. I believe that Winston
Churchill did not want a statue of himself in Parliament Square in London for
this very reason. He is there, but has
some sort of electrode inserted inside him which deters birds from
landing. I believe his sentiments were
something along these lines ‘I do not wish to have pigeon crap all over my head
for the rest of eternity’! If you look
at the bottom photo we think these are a representation of some of the
instruments Riquet used in his work.
Friday was
the day to visit Béziers as along the Allées Paul Riquet there is a flower
market and what an riot of colours and smells. Definitely worth visiting even
if you aren’t going to buy. It is a
visual & olfactory feast.
Does anyone
know what the plants on the far right are?
They looked like velvet.
From here we
made our way to the Cathédrale Saint Nazaire passing on our way the Palais de
Justice – well it was until 13 Jul 2016 (2 days before our visit!)– it appears to have moved to new
premises in the Poylgone.
Before
entering the Cathedral one must stop and take in the magnificent views. Please note in the top right picture the
building with the very tall chimney that I captured from the other side when
we visited the Etang du Montady. Bottom left
is the car park at Fonserannes and bottom right is the sight of the bottom lock
and you can just spot the Pont D’Eau – more about that on Monday.
There are
also far reaching views of L’Orb & Le Monts du Caroux.
And so to
the Cathédrale Saint Nazaire – I am glad I managed the distant shot from
Fonserannes as that is the only way to get a feel for the dominance of this
building over Béziers. Up close it is
not as big as you think it will be from the distance, but it is still a
magnificent building and worthy of a visit.
In UK terms we would probably
expect it to be a called a very large church.
Some information for those who read French - I do have to agree that it is a beautiful fortified church
And so we
ventured in. I have certainly seen
bigger and more awe inspiring churches, but there is plenty of visual interest to
delight the eye.
Stained
glass windows which are notoriously hard to photograph, particularly with a
camera which serves me well, but has few refinements. The picture of the circular window certainly
does not do it justice, but hopefully you will get an idea of how magnificent
it was.
Intricately
carved choir stalls and a marble altar rail – both so very tactile.
Looking back
from the altar one’s eye is drawn up to the vaulted ceiling, the magnificent
window and one has to marvel at the organ pipes. Something I would love to hear playing.
You can also see the sheer size of the pulpit which is set in the
centre of the congregation. I am sure
that has seen some fire and brimstone preached over the years.
Now looking
from the back towards the altar
The sheer intricacy
of the altar deserves a closer look
On either
side of the nave just leading up to the choir stalls are the Stations of the
Cross from the 1st to the 14th. The paintings above them are superb, but the
light was not good enough to get a good shot.
There are, of course, plenty of statues
And finally
in side chapels at the rear of the cathedral there was a photographic display showing
the Cathedral and other parts of Béziers over the years, through the seasons
We
particularly liked these two showing L’Orb in flood and it's normal summer level.
From there
we made our way back to Allées Paul Riquet via the imposing Marie where all the
flags were at half-mast in respect of all those who lost their lives in Nice
yesterday. Three days of national
mourning had been announced and all planned son et luminères and firework
displays had been cancelled.
This caught
my eye in a gallery window – very odd!
And it was
not much better inside!
We also
passed this rather imposing entrance to the police headquarters
The
buildings in the city are magnificent
With some
amazing architectural features
We passed
through several squares all with busy restaurants and people making the most of
the sunshine
One thing
that will remain in our minds is the very clever use of many umbrellas of a
multitude of hues to shield passers-by from the sun as they promenade down the
many narrow alleyways.
So here we
were back in Allées Paul Riquet and it was time for lunch. With so many restaurants to choose from we
had to hope we would make the right choice.
Sadly we
didn’t. We both opted for a Caesar Salad
expecting lettuce, Caesar sauce, Gran Padana and lightly grilled chicken. This is what we got.
We had time
before our return train to walk to the other end (from the theatre) of the
Allées Paul Riquet (the street is 600 metres long) to the park. There we
discovered the park is called the Plateau des Poetes and covers 5 hectares. It was laid out in the English style between
1863 and 1867 by the brothers Bülher, who were famous landscape gardeners. It is a sanctuary for birds, wildlife and
humans in the centre of a busy city.
So who are
the poets? Viillenerve, Injalbert and Magrou were Biterrois (born and bred in
Béziers) and the fourth (Victor Hugo) is included as he spent a lot of his life
in the town. We only found Villenerve
and Hugo, but we did not have time to explore all 5 hectares.
one to the
members of the resistance and finally to those who lost their lives at the time
of the liberation in 1944. There is
evidence all over this part of France of the torrid time they had in the dark
days of occupation during WWII.
There is a
water course that starts at the top left, goes round to the intricate structure
on the right and ends bottom left with a row of beehives behind the water, well
away from the public.
Tree lined avenues give welcome shade and a few flowers here and there delight the eye
We found a
bench in the shade to sit, rest our legs and read our books whilst enjoying the
peace and quiet surrounding us before heading back to Allées Paul Riquet to
catch our Petit Train at 15:30. It was,
inevitably, running late, so we found another bench to while away the time
whilst we waited. This was a very
different experience – there were people on a nearby bench set at 90 degrees
We
bumped our way along some very narrow streets – there was not much room for
error and pedestrians had to take a very deep breath in and think thin!
Then
it was out of the city over Pont Neuf with a view of Pont Vieux on our right the
bridge we went in on on our left
We
both loved Béziers and we are not sure why it has taken so many years before we
paid it a visit. The Petit Train is
definitely the way to go in – not only because it saves trying to find a
parking space in a city we do not know, but you get a good overview of the
city. The total trip takes around 50
minutes. They do have open top bus tours
as well, so maybe next time we will see what they have to offer. They certainly would not get anywhere near the
narrow streets the train took.
So
ended a really good day and as it turned out we were glad the boat was full as
it gave us more time in the city which was definitely needed.
Limoux
The
lovely hot weather was well and truly back again and looked set to remain that
way until we left in a week – yes just one more week to go. The four weeks had sped by much too
fast. Saturday we decided to head for a
place called Limoux – about 1.5 hours away.
It is quite a distance away, but it is somewhere we visit every time we
are down this way. Why you may ask?
La
Grande Cave du Sieur d’Arques – the home of Cremant and Blanquette de
Limoux. We discovered this sparkling
wine on our first trip 19 years ago and have been picking up supplies for ourselves
and as presents ever since.
We
set the sat nav and off we went taking the autoroute round Carcassonne. We followed her until we got to Limoux and
that is when the magical mystery tour began!
There is a brand new out of town shopping area which she detoured us
through (useful to know there is a huge Le Clerc for a few supplies and some
fuel on the way home) and then along a very bumpy road by a disused railway
track and what used to be the railway station.
They were all areas that were completely new to us. We ended up driving through the square full
of diners in the middle of the town. A
part of Limoux we did not know existed! In all the years we have been here we have only ever driven through and
had no idea there was a lively welcoming centre to Limoux. (I wrote the words whilst we were in France and when we got home I checked our photos from previous trips only to discover we had been into the centre in 2000!Senior moments R'Us!). After a lot of wriggling and a couple of
about turns we made it to the Cave only to find it was shut for siesta. We had expected it might be, so it was not
too much of a shock.
We
had spotted a picnic site on the outskirts of Limoux, so headed there to eat
our lunch. There was a table in the
shade and the surroundings were quite pleasant
It
was rather too near the road, but the traffic was fairly light, so it was not
too intrusive. It served its purpose,
but it is not somewhere I would choose to spend the afternoon.
Back
into Limoux on the correct road this time and we spotted a brand new cave
We
ventured in, but found it rather unwelcoming, so we hot footed it to the cave
we have been using for years. Suitably
stocked up we headed back to Bize.
There
was, however, one other thing that had to be done whilst in Limoux. I am sure many of you will know how the
French love to make features of their roundabouts? Well there is one in Limoux that we have
always found particularly attractive – it features a man – possibly a
jester/clown. Well shock horror; he is
no longer on a roundabout! Instead he is
on an island on one side of the road. We
think there have been some changes to the road layout, so I guess he was a
victim of development, but at least they have kept him even if he is in a
slightly different format. Once home I discovered when checking the photos from 2011 that he had moved back then, Another memory lapse, but at least
our memories are equally bad – some sort of compatibility!! So here he is in 2016 and in need of a trim.
This
is him on the roundabout in 2000. Note here his face is pink and he is sporting googles which is probably why I always thought of him as a pilot. As you will see above there are now no googles and it looks as though he has a white mask on his face,
2011
– and recently trimmed
On
our way home we called into Homps to get another couple of bottles of wine –
more presents. We do not make a habit of
loads of presents when we are away, but we do like to give something to the
children and also the friends who have had Monty for the entire time deserve
more than a little something! Anyway I
digress – who did we find in Homps? Yes
none other than Winnie! She was in the
spot that we had on our second visit until Le Boat moved us on.
Sunday 17th July
A chill out day round the pool
It was bright, sunny and hot again, so what should we do on a quiet Sunday –
well it was a good day to take some time out and relax. We were able to enjoy a
lovely slow start to the day. The first
thing on my agenda was a visit to the boulangerie. It is a busy little shop. There were 7 in front of me and by the time I
left another eight were waiting in the queue.
I have been very restrained over the last four weeks and only had fruit
for my breakfast, but today I decided to treat myself, so the order at the
boulangerie was for un croissant, un croissant amande (my favourite), au placquet (a slightly
wider loaf than a baguette), un café éclair (Chris) and un tarte citron
(me). A real blow out day, but very nice
it was too.
After
a very relaxing morning we went off down our own private steps from our terrace
Through
the gate to the river below where on a hot, sunny Sunday it is the place to
be. Whole family groups congregate
They
even bring the cot for the baby
But
look out for escaping pushchairs!! Our daughter will empathise with this
scenario – I was not quite quick enough to catch it on camera, but it escaped
down the slope into the water and had to be rescued. Thankfully it was
unoccupied at the time and the lady did not have to take her trousers off to
retrieve it!!
Children
can play safely on inflatables with no chance of being blown out to sea.
At
varying times we saw an alligator and a shark!!
Small
boys can have fun with an awesome water pistol only incurring adult wrath when they
miss their aim and hit someone – one will never know if they really did miss!
How
about fishing from a boat? We know there
are fish to be caught as we peeked into a small girl’s net
I
am not sure where this young lad thinks the surf is, but he was having fun
Now
this looks like fun. Do they make it
(there were two of them having a go)
Sometimes
yes
And
sometimes no!
We
found some shade for me with sun for Chris along the river bank and sat for a
while to enjoy the atmosphere. Then it
was time to take the plunge! Oh boy what
a shock – we knew it was cold from previous years and it has not warmed up in
the interim. It is cold enough to make
you gasp as you enter. The water comes
off the mountains, but here is the proof that we both braved the
water.
Then
when you have had enough you can drip your way through our gate, up the steps
and go straight into the shower. Bliss.
Later
that evening we spotted this chap with his snorkel and fishing net (you can
just see the green pole sticking out of the water) – he was definitely looking
for something, but we have no idea what!
Now
in the months of July and August it is forbidden for dogs to be on the beach,
but hey this is France! They were all young dogs and were having a
great time together.
I
mentioned earlier that we were having an unhealthy eating day food wise – well
we balanced it a little bit at dinner time when we must have had our ‘five a
day’ in one sitting!! A French salad ‘a
la Gash’! Very tasty it was too.
Then
the final treat of the day – those cakes.
The French certainly know how to do things with style – beautifully
presented and in such a pretty box.
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