More to Carcassonne than the Cité.

We’ve been watching the weather in order to choose the better/best days for outdoor activities. 

Jennifer is only here for seven days and it’s her first visit to “La Belle France” so we’re trying to make the most of her time here. 

We settled on a visit to Carcassonne for today, Thursday, May 9th ... the weather man is promising sunshine!

Twice in one week Monsieur Honey & I visited with the grand Dame Carcas. 

She stood out in her glory against the blue, blue skies today. 

(If you want some history on Carcassonne read the post “Legends and Cars of Carcassonne” posted on May 15th.)

We strolled thru the inner cobble-stoned streets flanked by the many tourist shops in the medieval Cité. 

Some are your typical “Disney” type selling traditional souvenirs, however, there are some more interesting boutique shops.

This shop’s owner provided excellent service and his merchandise was of good quality. 

Monsieur Honey typically doesn’t like to wear anything with advertisement, but here he made an exception with a “Carcassonne” T-shirt.

We later wandered around the outside of the inner walls ...which provided views of the other Carcassonne. 

Panoramic view over the “new town” below.

The rest of our day was spent in the Place Carnot area. 

We found a table in the square to enjoy some lunch in the sunshine, followed by some retail therapy at the boutique shops. 

The fountain in the square ...


My companions look happy after some great tasting food while catching some rays in the glorious sunshine. 

Tapas for lunch ... delicious! 

The restaurant front we sat in the square opposite ... 

The square is surrounded by apartment buildings with interesting architectural details and fancy railings.

Lamppost in the square ...

As I finish this post this morning, I realize that a week ago today we were heading back to the airport in Toulouse for Jennifer’s return flight.  

Time goes so quickly ...

I’ll be back with more of our travels with Jenn to Narbonne, Cerét, Bram, Mirepoix and Gruissan. 

Such a pretty basket of flowers ... 

Return to Caunes-Minervois

After our gourmet lunch in Villeneuve-Minervois, we continued on to Caunes-Minervois. 

First a little history about the town and our rendezvous with Caunes-Minervois ... and then mostly a pictorial post.  

The shutter on my camera phone is constantly clicking.  

It’s difficult to choose what to share. 

I hope you enjoy. 

“Caunes-Minervois is a small medieval town and commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is known particularly for its ancient Abbey, dating from the eighth century, and the outstanding red marble that has been quarried locally from Roman times. The name may derive from the ancient local Occitan word for cave, “cauna”, of which there are a number in the immediate area.”... Wikipedia 

“The ancient quarry is called "du roy" in reference to the sun king who ordered massive blocks to ornate the Trianon of his palace in Versailles. This red marble can also be seen in other monuments of Paris, Rome and many churches and bourgeois houses in the region”. Info from Aude Tourism.

In the summer of 2005,  we spent a week in Caunes-Minervois at Maison des Remparts with our friends D & S ...

the house is still standing but I don’t believe it’s still operating as a gite. 

We had a great view over the village allotments ... and today, there were several of the residents working in their garden patch! 

We discovered that there was a “Marche du Printemps” happening at the ancient Abbey. 

Various vendors, artisans selling their creations. 

Families enjoying the May 8th holiday.

Jennifer checking out the unique jewelry ...

A flower stand ...

Donkey rides for the kids. 

Monsieur Honey playing peekaboo ...

A posed Jennifer in the sunshine ...

Throughout the town there are many pink sculptures made from the famous marble. 

A table for two by the pink marble fountain ...

Along the river walk, many sculptures are displayed from the 2007  Symposium that was held here.

It’s difficult to see in the photo ... the shutters were in the similar shade / tone as these beautiful plants .

The ancient lavoir that is still in use .

One of many ancient homes framed in rose bushes,  accessoried with a pink marble step and bench. 

Hello Toro! 

Monsieur this might be a nice addition in our courtyard? 

We enjoyed a full and busy day in the Minervois region! 

Victory Day in Villeneuve-Minervois

Wednesday, May 8th, 2019.

May 8th is a holiday in Europe, called Victory in Europe Day/ VE Day commemorating the end of WW11 on May 8th, 1945. 

It is a day of celebration and remembrance with church services, ceremonies and parades. We were in time to watch the parade as they marched to the monument with music playing on a loudspeaker. 

Wreaths are laid during the ceremonies at the monuments honouring those lost in the war in each village, town and city.

We planned to visit the village of Villeneuve-Minervois where a vide-Grenier was being held plus we had made reservations for a special lunch at a restaurant Monsieur Honey & I discovered five years ago and luckily it was still in operation. 

It was a foggy, misty morning ... 

And at times rainy ... and the GPS took us thru the Alaric Mountain region to reach our destination.


We first visited this village in 2005 where we almost became French landowners. 

The property was almost everything we wanted. I say “almost”.  It was missing the most important thing for our life in France an outside area either a courtyard or terrace. This was the deal breaker. Imagine what our life would have been like! 

The property is now a pharmacy located on this plane-tree lined street.

We wandered thru the  village and headed to the “vide-grenier” which literally means “empty attic” ... like a flea market, garage sale. It was being held inside at the “Salle de Fête.  

There were many tables set up with a variety of items ... we acquired a trivet depicting the French tradition of “faire chabrot” 

and a juicy melon! 

We had hoped to visit the truffle museum however it was closed today due to the holiday. We checked out the Church and several monuments as we headed to the restaurant. 

La Grande Fontaine ...

A beautiful streetscape ...


We arrived at the restaurant “la Table de Pareur” where we celebrated Jenn’s recent birthday. 

It was a good thing I had made a reservation as they were full and not taking walk ins. 

The courtyard entrance ...

Father and daughter ...

We had an amazing meal from the amuse bouche to dessert with great service.

We ventured further in the Minervois area after out lunch ... I will be writing a separate post.