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!

Spring Artisan Market at Domaine Calmel & Joseph (Marché du Printemps)

Sunday, May 19th-2019 

Today was one of those unexpected surprises. Several times over the past couple of weeks, I had spotted these vibrant pink signs advertising a “Marché du Printemps des Créateurs”. 

I had no idea what it would be and my expectations were low. 

It was being held in the tiny, tiny village of Montirat in the Val de Dagne. 

We didn’t know until we drove into the village and were directed through a long, narrow dirt lane to a grass field turned into parking lot (where there was already many cars parked) that the event was being held at the Le Domaine Calmel & Joseph.

We walked through the estate following pink signs directing us to the venue which was absolutely stunning. 

The property has vineyards, olive trees, almond trees, lavender fields and hives producing honey plus also has several gites/ guest accommodation.

A little history from the Domaine’s website “Twenty years after it started making its first wines, Calmel & Joseph - founded in 1995 acquired a superb estate, a former metairie (tenant farm estate), typical of the Languedoc-Roussillon region.” 

Looking for more info checkout ... 

www.domaine-calmel-joseph.com or www.calmel-joseph.com. 

Olive grove 

Lavender field 

Entry was free, you just needed to purchase a wine glass for €2 which was refunded when you returned the glass. 

Glass in hand we were ready to explore.

Monsieur Honey with his glass ...

There were various artisans selling their top quality creations, the wine cave was open for tastings and purchases, live music for our listening pleasure, several places offering delicious food. 

You could have a grilled steak or pork ribs ... Oysters on the shell ... a type of pizza with buffalo mozzarella and many other choices. 

We went to the wine cave, sampled a couple different rosés ... settled on one we liked and found a seat to enjoy our glass while listening and watching the musicians. 

The cave / boutique was humming with activity.

This little one had one of the best seats in the house ...

It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday. 

We retraced our steps back through the vineyards and the beautiful estate, found our little car & headed back to Montlaur. 

Thank you to the organizers, artisans and Domaine Calmel & Joseph for providing a wonderful day of entertainment. 

p.s. we’ve enjoyed the rosé again with our lunch at “Le Moulin de Trèbes”. 

p.s.s. we will be trying their Chardonnay when we get home, it’s available in Canada at the L.C.B.O.

Just Day to Day Living!

17th/18th May 2019

Our week finished with a dark, wet day on Friday which forced us to take a break from our vacation and just slow down for a day or two. 

You see when we travel we don’t like to have a full calendar/ detailed itinerary for the whole period we are away.

That defeats the purpose of doing a longer stay, where we want to just live as at home but in another country.

Plus some our best experiences have happened by not planning too much so there is flexibility to attend events that we did not otherwise know about. 

So we spent Friday and Saturday “à la maison dans la village” ... we stayed at home in the village! 

This was the view Friday morning and it did rain most of the day.

 

Saturday it didn’t rain but was cool and cloudy most of the day. 

We shopped locally in the village, where we could walk to the shops for the day’s necessities. 

We purchased a couple quiches for our lunch and fresh chicken legs for tonight’s dinner from Jean-Louis at the butcher shop.

Next stop the Vival for a fresh baked baguette, butter and the most delicious eclairs for dessert.

 

Some reading for Monsieur Honey, some blogging for me and some “Netflix” movies watched together were enjoyable activities. 

Today’s roses in the Church’s border garden ...