Wine Country

While daughter, Jennifer was visiting with us we arranged a wine tasting at one of the five local village wine producers. 

Domaine Fourtanier is located at 9 Rue de Pontil just around the corner (as in walking distance) from our temporary “home away from home”.

We arrived at the appointed time (19h) and were greeted very warmly by friendly Frédéric (Frédo) Puget who owns & operates the business with his sister Bénédicte.  

We had an informative tour of the facilty prior to the tastings.

Fredo’s presentation was peppered with humour which made for an entertaining evening.

He explained how various wines were made and provided a detailed family history of the winery. 

The Fourtanier Family have been winemakers for 5 generations, since the late 19th century originating with his great-grandfather.

Some statistics from their website 

• 5th generation cave
• 11 hectares of vines - Grape variety: merlot, cabernet-sauvignon, grenache, cinsault, syrah, alicante
• 2 hectares of fields
• Annual production: 8 to 10,000 bottles, the rest in a cooperative cellar

Photo of Fredo and his great-grandmother (Madame Fourtanier) 

On to the tasting, we tried three different varieties - Syrah, two Cabernet Sauvignons, one unoaked (naked) and the other aged in oak barrels.

 

The oaked Cabernet Sauvignon was a 2014. Delicious! 

Merci beaucoup Frédo for a very informative, interesting and entertaining experience! 

Wishing you continued success! 

If you find yourself in the Aude, try Domaine Fourtanier’s wines. 

Email:  domainefourtainer@wanadoo.fr

Télé: 04.68.24.01.40

French Village Life

Since we arrived we have been good at supporting the local shops in the village.

There is a butcher, a baker but no candlestick maker!

The baker honks his bread van’s horn to announce his arrival every morning and stops in front of the Maire (town hall) and the butcher shop, but only briefly.

There is a small “epicierie”/ grocer, the Vival which has a bit of everything plus they also have fresh baked bread, “pain au raisin, pain au chocolat”, local wines ... even our favourite rosé when we want a treat.

(Only 8 Euros/ $12.00 Canadian here versus $18.95 Canadian back home)

The village also boasts a“pharmacie” plus several wine producers where wine tastings can be arranged! 

 

So far, Monsieur Honey has been the runner in the morning to gather the baguette and breakfast goodies that we’ve ordered the day before from Sylvie at the Vival. 

I’m sure my turn will come soon. 

We’ve been able to survive with daily pickups from the local shops plus the weekly Tuesday market provided some extras. 

We even had to visit the pharmacy for some «paracétamol», since one of us forgot to pack the Tylenol!

And that’s where Monsieur Honey had his hen party ...

We decided to venture out on Thursday to a larger centre for a shop at the large supermarket “Carrefour” in Lézignan-Corbières. 

It was about an half hour drive and again through the Gorge de Congoust.

This may sound strange to some but we always enjoy a troll thru the “Supermarché” to see the different items that are available.  We had a good explore and left with many shopping bags to stock the larder. 

It was a long and winding road home ... with beautiful scenery!

Google Earth of the road we travelled ...

The most strikingly beautiful plane tree lined roads ...




Tomorrow afternoon (Friday, May 3rd) we are off to Carcassonne to pickup a visiting friend for a few days. 

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.

My 2019 Birthday Trip

Sunday, April 28th, 2019 

This adventure happened all spontaneously by Monsieur Honey after he viewed a property for rent on Facebook,  he decided to surprise me with a trip for my upcoming significant birthday in May. 

We had viewed the property while we were planning a September “retirement trip” with our Castle Durham friends but ruled the village out due to it’s small size as it was the first time Mark and Susan would be visiting France.

In Canada I will officially be recognizied as a Senior Citizen collecting an Old Age Pension the month following my birth date. 

As I write this I think oh how old! 

Seriously though, I’m ok with this as I’m healthy and not feeling my age! 

What a wonderful surprise to travel to la Belle France to once again experience the French life, the “joie de vivre” and the culture with all my senses.

Thank you Monsieur Honey for the most wonderful gift! 

Today is what we dub as the “Hurry up and wait day”!

From waking up in our own beds, showering, dressing, making sure every last thing is packed ... and the final Monsieur “checklist” ... euros, passports, tickets, directions, etc. 

And away we go ... thank you to our friend Nicky for the lift to the airport bus pickup. 

Airport checkin, baggage drop off, security all was uneventful ... flight departed on time and we arrived in Paris (CDG) early. 

We enjoyed some movie entertainment and a little cat nap. 

We already had a long layover, now just a bit longer; we walked the 30 minutes between terminals, enjoyed a nice petite  déjeuner ...

... then it was hurry up and wait for our flight to Toulouse. 

The skies were foggy this morning causing many delays/ gate changes. 

Our arrival in Toulouse was on time, we collected our luggage which finally did come around on the carousel (thank goodness they were there).

                                        
Next was the car rental pickup process with Europcar, upon checking the Opel we discovered too much damage and requested a different vehicle and we were given a new Peugeot 208, with a built in GPS ... “parlez vous Français?” 

More on this later!  

Finally on the road in direction to Montlaur.  

We did a quick stop at a surpemarket in Trèbes for essentials arriving in Montlaur just before six o’clock. 

We met our landlords who quickly showed us around L’Ancienne Sellerie.

We had a simple dinner of cheese, pâte, bread, wine ...  we pushed our bed time to 9 o’clock ... we’ve been going for about 24 hours!

  

See you all tomorrow after we’ve had a good night’s sleep! 

Ready, Set, Go!

Our countdown of sleeps has come to an end ... with only one more sleep on the plane (we hope to have a restful night during our flight) before our rendezvous with la Belle France,  

All travel arrangements are made, flights and car rental  booked plus we found the perfect accommodation in the quaint, tiny village of Montlaur in the Aude department, Occitane region (formerly Langedouc-Roussillon). 

We will spend a little over a month here this time. 

We are packed and are “Ready & Set to Go” ... 



 À bientôt.