geeteetravels

Today was a day of monter, monter, monter as we have now entered the Cevennes mountains.  We climbed about 1000 meters, rode over two passes, and enjoyed beautiful mountainous terrain.  There were also moutaintop villages and villas to take in but unfortunately no bars or cafes to get our daily quotient of café, bierre and vin.  It seems that Sundays and Mondays are the days of rest in this area.  Luckily we found groceries this morning and there is one restaurant in this village that was open for supper.  However there was only us and one other couple eating so the service was good.  It is always an adventure in these places with our limited French.  Tonight we got a bit of help from the waiter who could speak a little English.  I had a goat cheese and tomato terrine then a chicken and mushroom dish while George had a scallop and leek entree and then cod with a mustard sauce.  We had creme brulee for dessert.
Tomorrow we climb some more but not as much on our way to Florac.

A lovely country house with a great terraced garden including a LOT of potatoes.

Nearly all buildings here are constructed of local stone; some get plastered over, some not.

Many small breaks today. Here we are a few kms short of the first summit.

This spot ranks as one of the most picturesque for a picnique.

At our stop for the night in St. André-de-Valborgne.

Away from the coast and back into the hills we headed today. After our experience with entering Montpellier we were wary of getting misguided on the way out but we didn’t have the same trouble. Sundays in Europe can be tricky with store and restaurant closures but we had sussed out a nearby marché which opened just a bit later today. We purchased our customary breakfast items, ate a final time in the place de la comedie, and hit the road. It was to be a hot day, about 30°, and we would be climbing so a bit tough but not real far at 50km. About half way to Ganges there is a mountain called pic saint loup which I thought we were going around but it was more like over. We had an excellent “pause café” in a village which had a morning market and lots of people about. The road we chose was busy with people out to do something on a beautiful day, none of the normal truck traffic. As we got closer to Ganges we went through a small gorge with people swimming and kayaking in the fast creek below. Great idea today. We rolled into Ganges about 3 with the hotel not open until 4. What to do on a hot sunny day with an outdoor shaded brasserie close at hand?
We did find a restaurant open for supper. Nice too, old school husband and wife team and we sat in the back garden. Tara had an entire trout. Later we saw many of its brothers/sisters swimming in the river while we were on an evening stroll. But the best part of the meal was Poire-Belle-Hélene for dessert. Pears, chocolate sauce, ice cream, and whipped cream. Yum. Sorry no picture.

The view into la place de la comedie from our hotel balcony.

Looking back at pic saint loup and the climb mostly done.

Kayaking fun in the Hèrault river (not us).

Today was spent exploring the old city section of  Montpellier.  We found this city’s version of the Arc de Triomph as well as a statue of Louis the XIV.  There is also an aqueduct that looks like Pont du Gard but is smaller.  There’s a school of medicine here that dates from the 12th century.  It has an adjoining botanical garden that was and is still used for the study of medicinal plants.  Apparently in 1181 when the school was opened anyone, regardless of religion or background could teach at the school.  Hopefully their requirements are higher now.
After lunch we visited the Fabre museum.  They have a good collection of art there but I find these smaller galleries less interesting once you have visited those in Paris and London. 
Next we did a little shopping for shorts for George so he has more than one thing to wear other than his bike shorts, swim trunks, or PJ’s when we arrive at our destination.  So much for the ultra light packing method.  We found something suitable at the local Galleries Lafayette.
Now we are off to find supper again.  When traveling like this it is a constant search for food, shelter and WC’s. George found one of his favorites, moule frites.

Bright Saturday morning having our petit déjeuner in the place de la comedie.

Everywhere there were impromptu marchés, sorta' like garage sales 🙂

The sun king needed his statue to be higher than everything else of course.

New shorts. Quel excitement!

Hitting at least some of the food groups with this meal.

We left Sète after 2 good days, but we had to cross 5 bridges within the first 2 km to do it. Why some marketing genius has not “rebranded” Sète as the Venice of Languedoc I don’t know.
Onwards east and north on a beautiful morning with an onshore crosswind which didn’t bother us. We stayed close to the sea and the saltwater lakes just inland. Montpellier is only 10km from the sea and there is a long line of beach apartments and the beachy  accoutrements. Once we had our typical lunch of yogurt, fruit, and sandwich or croissant (GG only) we headed inland. Today we were on bike trails paralleling the road for much of the time and here as well. We passed by a big shopping mall so I went in search of a pressure gauge for the tires which I suspected of being low. I left one at home in the interests of light weight but that was a mistake. I found a small high pressure pump with a built-in gauge and got the tires up to a more reasonable state.
We became thoroughly confused once closer in to town. The roads became a mass of tram lines and pedestrians and clearly the terrain was not matching the map (in these cases always believe the terrain). We later found out that a very large central area has been declared a car free zone! Very nice. Montpellier appears very modern compared to other towns in France, perhaps because it only dates to the middle ages and not Roman times? We took another “petit train” tour to get a quick overview and went in search of supper. New rule; when there are thousands of restaurants only look at a maximum of 4 before choosing!

Early morning crowd at the petit marché on our way out of Sète.

Another day, et la mer encore with a lesser model for the photo.

You meet the nicest people on the place de la comedie in Montpellier.

The beautiful tramway which winds its way into the place de la comedie.

Believe it or not that is not a church in the background.

We started this beautiful morning by climbing up Mont St. Clair.  This gave us a great view of the land and water around Sète.  The city is almost completely surrounded by water: canals, rivers, etang (large pond) and the Mediterranean.  It was a good climb up, so much for our day of rest.  Next we descended the other side to again find la mer et la plage.  It was a nice sunny day, about 25°, but the water was icey, so no swimming, only wading.  Then we walked back into the centre ville area and treated ourselves to an ice cream sundae in a café along the waters edge.  We spent a little time looking for some new shorts for George but weren’t successful.  He is actually getting tired of the one pair of shorts he brought (other than his cycling shorts).  He was bragging about his lightweight pack but now is wishing he had a bit more along. 
There is so much activity along the canals here. Check out the rowboat races we encountered both evenings.

The well earned view looking northeast towards Montpellier, our next destination.

Out behind Tara you can just make out where there is some intensive oyster farming in the Etang.

Looking back west and the beaches we rode beside yesterday.

On one of the many beaches around Sète.

The harbour is truly a busy place, full of fishermen and commercial traffic.

Both evenings we were here saw boat races in the canal close by the hotel. Unfortunately we missed the famous water jousting Sète is famous for.

Today we were headed for la mer (La Mer – Charles Trenet), the sea, which we were definitely looking forward to. We were also looking to get some better weather since last night we were happy to eat in a restaurant which cooked over an open fire and spread the warmth around the restaurant. First I wanted to see the water bridge whereby the canal du midi enters the city crossing the Orb river! After we got that sorted we tried to leave the job of navigation to our GPS but we always have to keep a healthy skepticism about it’s directions, today being a good example. Sometimes it takes you where you just know is the wrong direction, or is trying to keep you on the really less traveled routes. And sometimes it just is not aware of the brand new 20km long perfect bike path which paralleled the beach all the way from Marseillage plage to Sète! Score! Add in that it was the warmest sunniest day yet with a good healthy tailwind which got us into top gear and 50km/hr for a stretch and there’s not much left to say.

The canal bridge crossing the river Orb in Béziers.

La Mer (insert Charles Trenet music here)

These self portraits are tricky.

That's a bit better.

We could only be in France because beers that small are outlawed in most countries.

On the canal by our hotel in Sète.

Today we traveled from Minerve to Béziers via Aigne, Bize Minervois, Capestang and Oppidum d’Enserune, about 63 kms.  It was a windy day but mostly on our backs so it helped us. 
Aigne is a little village with a circulade,  an ancient inner circular walled dwelling area.  There were several artisan shops and a cathedral of course there but not much else. 
Next stop Bize for our morning cafe au lait.  Not much there either just the usual French shops, churches, parks, people, etc. 
Capestang is where we stopped for lunch and had a look in the local church.  We were trying to climb the bell tower but it appeared to be closed due to safety issues. 
At this point we tried to reconnect with the canal du Midi but couldn’t find it.  We next stopped at Oppidum, a national monument where ancient ruins from the 4th century BC have been found and excavated.  There was an outdoor area with ruins of the village
and a museum full of artifacts found during excavation.  Of course this was on top of a hill, as are most places, which you notice more when cycling.  But it was interesting none the less.  
Then we again tried to ride along the canal.  We found it but it was not paved and there were many potholes and roots to slow us down.  We found a road then but it was busy and it was rush hour so the last few kms. into Béziers was a bit harried.  But thanks to modern technology we found our way to the hotel des poètes, a nice quiet spot by a park.
We got cleaned up and went to find supper.  We are in a little place that cooked over an open fire pit with vine wood.  It was quite good and it was warm inside as the evening was cool.

The man who created the canal du midi, claimed to be a native of Béziers.

The cathedral in Béziers can be seen for miles due to it's hilltop location.

A view of the Etang de Montady, a natural depression turned into fertile field by use of drainage scheme from the 13th century.

No one is allergic to chocolate around here.

The small village of Aigne is a circulade, built in concentric circles. Here is Tara on the inner ring.

Minerve is a very cool place with at least three things going for it. First it sits on a spit of land between two gorges making it remarkable from a physical perspective. Next it has an interesting history as one of the casualties in the papal crusade against the cathars. A certain Simon de Montfort used a catapult called the “malvoisine” (bad neighbour) in a siege against the well fortified town to smash access to their water well. Before giving up, 140 townsfolk jumped into a fire rather than renounce their religion.  Finally, we are staying in a restaurant/hotel with emphasis on the food not on the rooms. We just had a fabulous meal, highly original, wonderful flavours, and with a bottle of a local minervois white wine to go with it.
Earlier in the day, which was fine and warm, we went on a hike and were rewarded with some great view points of the gorges and the town.  Back on the road tomorrow after a great two night stop in Minerve.

Gorge – Minerve – Gorge

We left Carcassonne fairly early and followed the canal du midi again for a short while before finding the Minervois wine region.  Vineyards dominate the countryside which is quite hilly.  We definitely used the lower gears today and the chain didn’t come off once!  Last year we had chronic chain loss issues but I think now George managed to get
the adjustment correct.  The weather was a bit unstable here but we only had a few drops land on us.Minerve is a beautiful little village at the junction of two large canyons.  There is a stunning pont (bridge) just as you come into the town (see photo).  It was drizzly the remainder of the day so we didn’t get up to very much, I think tomorrow will be better and we can do some exploring.

Looking cold with the bridge over to Minerve behind.

Saturday is market day in Carcassonne and to us Canadians this is always entertaining with a huge variety of stimulation covering all your senses, not always favourable. There are 3 market areas here and we did a quick tour until we just had to sit in the sun for a café. The weather was cooperating nicely with a clear blue sky at least to start.  As anticipated hopefully yesterday we took the “petit train” on it’s circuit back to visit la cité.  Today we learned a lot more about the medieval fortress on a self guided audio tour which dispelled some of the dismissive facts from our guide book. The restoration had been done very scientifically using the best methods available in the 1850s and has since been debated but in most cases verified. In any case we found it to be quite fascinating and a close look at history from the Romans on up. Whew – enough academia!
Now onwards and out to check the accuracy of the restaurant reviews from tripadvisor; wish us luck.
Late breaking news – tripadvisor had it right.  Le Blé Noir crêperie was superb; Tara says her best meal so far (she ate half my desert!) but I am still leaning towards the cassoulet.

Cheaper than OJ but tough on hydration.

Occitan food truck.

Un cheval a emporter SVP.

Fabulous produce but no kitchen.

Wow, what a great purple that is!

Yes, we took the train.

La cité from the high speed train.

Escaped horses in disguise.

We ate this work of art.