A Week in our French Life

Week of May 20th -May 26th 

We are on our second last week of our French stay. 

This week the weather was once again mixed. 

Monday we did a village walk; we stopped to smell some beautiful roses! 

Tuesday our road trip took us to Limoux. 

“The Venus out of the Water surrounded by four children riding dolphins” fountain in the Place de la République.

One of the children riding the dolphin ... isn’t he cute? 

Now look at that Wisteria ... can only imagine what it looks like in full flower.

Wednesday to Trèbes for a grocery shop and then some lunch. We first went to Le Moulin however it was full and there wasn’t a table available. We made a reservation for tomorrow. 

We chose the Trattoria Napoli on the Quai, the food and setting were excellent. 

The phylo pastry wrapped goat cheese & honey that look like egg rolls were so yummy. 

I’m going to have to try to make these.

It was a warmer (24C) sunny day and we had a great table to enjoy our meal and watch the activity in the canal.

Everything has a red tinge because of the red umbrellas! 

I said to Monsieur Honey “Let’s do this sometime” ... rent a houseboat and travel on the Canal.

I don’t think he was too interested.

Thursday back to Trèbes for lunch at “Le Moulin de Trèbes” situated at the locks on the Canal du Midi.

Has the weather finally broken? Let’s hope so! Looking out the window this morning it was clear and sunny! 

The menu and our lunch.

We enjoyed our lunch immensely (très bon!) so much so, we’ve decided to go here again on our last full day in France.

As the sun was shining and temperatures were finally warmer, we watched the activity in the locks where three boats were passing through, one of which was sporting a Canadian flag. We chatted and found out that these three couples were from B.C. The boat they rented had 3-bedrooms, 3-bathrooms ... sounds perfect.

Friday and Saturday we were experiencing some dreary weather (dark, cloudy skies and rain)  ... we spent those days at home in the village. 

Sunday we headed to Lagrasse where there was a vide-grenier, school festival with lots of activités for the children.

Our highlight of the day was our lunch at Le 1900 ...

All in all a fairly full week! 

You can’t do anything about the weather and just have to make the most of it. 

Oh and let’s not forget it was Mother’s Day in France ... every lady guest at Le 1900 was given a beautiful rose!

A Windy Day in Lagrasse

Sunday, May 5th, 2019 

Yesterday’s road trip took us on winding roads in the Terroir Montagne d’Alaric (Alaric Mountain 🏔) .... I can’t win or should I say fight the heights, everywhere we go from Montlaur is either thru the Gorge or the Mountain! And you can see the weather is still a bit unstable ... hopefully the wind will blow all the dark clouds and cooler temperatures away for tomorrow! 

We arrived in Lagrasse with gale force winds. If we were sitting on an woven carpet, it could have been a “Magic Carpet Ride” and we may have avoided the winding mountain drive! 

We had a quick stroll around the village before settling on a café/ restaurant on the boulevard for our Sunday “déjeuner”! 

The Market Square ... where the weekly Saturday market is held. 

The taupe stone enhanced by the climbing roses and the pretty pottery plant holders.

The view of the abbey from across the river.

Ah the French blue ... also known as “Bugatti” or “Gitane” blue. 

Monsieur Honey just regaled me with a story about Ettore Bugatti  saying he used to carry a package of French cigarettes (Gitanes) to confirm the colour match to that of his race cars. 

Of course my Monsieur would know this as an avid Grand Prix/ Formula One fan! 

Here’s stock photos just to give you an idea! 

We believe this was the same place we visited for lunch in July 2014 on a rainy day ...

We enjoyed great company, delicious food and wine. The highlights of today’s menu were the starters (entrees) 

 “Salade Océane” seafood salad ... which had at least a pound of smoked salmon in it!

I would have been content with just this delish dish! 

Laury and Monsieur Honey chose the “Oeuf poché sur sa crème de cèpes et bolets” ... a  poached egg on a mushroom cream for their starters. 

The egg was poached to perfection and complimented by the mushroom sauce.

 At first my thoughts were what an unusual combination but then I thought of mushroom omelettes, sautéed mushrooms with fried eggs ... so not really that odd. 

Monsieur is already talking about deconstructing the mushroom sauce. 

We tried to wander a bit more after our Sunday lunch. 

The wind was still howling and gusting.

We came across people garbed in their winter coats with fur trimmed hoods up to protect themselves from the elements. 

I saw this butcher shop and with a quick glance thought it could have been my Papa’s (GILBERT).

The name was only missing an “L”. 

What do you think brother and sister, can you see Dad running this shop many years ago? 

I couldn’t resist a closeup of the facade 

Almond tree full of nuts! 

We made a slight detour as we entered the village of Montlaur in search of the donkeys and poppies.

I’m still on the hunt for my poppy field ...

 

Tomorrow  we’re off to the “Cité Médiéval de Carcassonne” with Laury! 

Out and About in Lagrasse

Tuesday, April 30th, 2019 

We awoke to birds singing and church bells ringing under bright, blue skies. We had a good night’s sleep. 

We were aware that tomorrow was a « bank «  holiday here in France (banks/post office/ stores/ restaurants/cafés closed) ... restaurants only open in tourist towns, as such we needed to plan/ shop for provisions for Wednesday. 

Just down the street from us is “la boucherie” ... we were told that the butcher has good quality meats. 

We visited the shop, met the proprietor, Jean Louis and purchased some Toulouse sausage (Monsieur’s favourite). 

Then we were off for a short road trip to Lagrasse which is classified one of the most beautiful villages in France.

We visited here five years ago when we spent a week in Olonzac in Sainte-Helene’s beautiful apartment.  

https://www.sainte-helene.com/

We wandered the narrow lanes/ streets. 

We picked up a fresh baguette at the local boulangerie and then soaked up some sunshine while enjoying an“al fresco” coffee at a café on the Main Street. 

We will be visiting Lagrasse again during our stay with a more extensive tour. 

The abbey 


It was scenic drive out of the village, of course the “French Lady” GPS never takes us the same way back home.

I should have paid more attention when we were looking at the area on Google Earth. I looked closely at the village of Montlaur but didn’t think to consider the surrounding area. The scenery is all so beautiful but I didn’t realize we would be travelling on twisty, winding roads up and down the gorges with switch backs. If you know me I’m not good with heights and the narrow roads with no guard rails! Yikes it was a heart thumping, sweaty palm ride ...

You want me to go where? Did you read the sign, Monsieur? 

Translation: “narrow and winding road caution”

I will be definitely checking out the maps for a different route in the future.

Later in the day we went for a walk around the village of Montlaur, then checked out the tiny weekly Tuesday market in the square and a shop at the local mini supermarket “Vival”. 

Too many pics for one post ... will be doing a separate one on the village of Montlaur.