Catching up with Caunes Minervois

#CaunesMinervois#Minerve#Marble#MontagneNoir

This morning found us at loose ends ... it had rained heavily overnight and today was overcast and a bit drizzly early on in the day.

We went in search of the larger surpermarket for a quick pickup and then just followed one of the roads leading out of town ...

We travelled through many tiny villages and soon we were approaching Minerve (I call this place the French Grand Canyon) ... there's my fear of heights kicking in again.

As the mountains were shrouded in mist we opted to not visit this site today and continued on ... eventually ending up in Caunes Minervois for a memory walk ... in 2005 we spent a wonderful week here in a rented house that is built into the "Remparts" with our friends, Shari and Doug.

Caunes Minervois is a medieval village set at the foot of the Montagne Noir in the Aude Dept. of the Languedouc Region.

The village has many steep and narrow streets that twist and turn.

The 8th Century Abbey ... currently under restoration.

                              

Red / pink marble is quarried here and is said to have been since Roman times ...

Somethings were very familiar and then others we couldn't remember at all...

The lavoir, Maison des Remparts, giant plane trees ...

The Grand Prix in Olonzac ...

#LeCorre#MamGoz#Olonzac

Oh my ... this is the first time we slept in late since we have been on this adventure.

Monsieur Honey awoke and silently closed the bedroom doors or so he thought. 

               

I heard him and I crawled out of bed at 9:45AM (I haven't slept in that late in ages) and Monsieur only got up fifteen minutes earlier.

Some coffee and Monsieur was out the door.

There was a vide grenier in Olonzac today.

It might not have been a good idea to let "Monsieur" go on his own.

He returned today telling me he had bought a house ... I asked where and he said "I'm not sure".

Actually it was a deed to a property ... seriously!

He also purchased a couple other little treasures in his eyes ...

A tin box ... After some internet research it appears to be vintage "Le Corre"  Mam Goz character ... stamped Massilly, France on the bottom.

Later in the day ... he visited one of the local cafés to watch the Formula 1 race.

Today was one of those hot, humid and hazy days of Summer, a day like when I was a young child we would run through the lawn sprinkler to cool off  ... I decided to seek out a shady, cool place in the local park ... a beautiful place complete with tennis courts, children's playground, plenty of benches in shady areas, Rose covered trellis pathways leading from one area to another and a water pond.

Here all the wildlife played happily together...

Enroute to Olonzac

#Degagnac#Carcasonne##Trebes#Olonzac

Today we said "Au revoir" to Dégagnac and the Lot Valley ... Merci beaucoup for the hospitality to Madame M. et Monsieur Guy.

We headed southeast to the Languedoc - Roullison for our last week in France ... 

The drive was very uneventful ... which is good!

We did make a stop on the highway at an "Aire" ... similar to a service area on the 401 in Ontario ... we chose this one because it had a "Viewpoint" overlooking the Medieval City of Carcassonne.

Remember this is where the movie "Robin Hood The Prince of Thieves" was filmed ... maybe I will rent this DVD when the grandkids visit.

We stayed here during our first French adventure in 2003 and it was a magical night. 

Oh la- la Monsieur Honey  ... "Where has the time gone?" 

Our next stop was along the Canal du Midi in Trebes ... time for lunch.

This restaurant was right next to one of the locks on the river ....

It was here in the summer of 2005 that my own "Mr. Hemingway", myself and our dear friends Shari and Doug cruised the Canal du Midi.

After our lunch complete with a most delectable dessert, we continued enroute to Olonzac where we will spend our near last week at Sainte Helene's apartment ... a wonderful retreat (I will share more about this little piece of heaven soon.)

This dessert I am going to recreate at home ... Tarte citron, strawberry Coulis and chocolate and the little bowl in the right hand corner is a palate cleanser ... Sorbet infused with Campari!