MINERVE - something else

Minerve was something else. We had read about it in the DK travel guide of France. I was intrigued by its Cathar history. Why we left it to our second last day in the Languedoc, we will never know. To say it just blew us away is an understatement. We didn't enter the village immediately as we were awestruck by its savage beauty.

Minerve sits on the confluence of the rivers Cesse and Briant. We did eventually walk across the bridge leading to the village as only residents cars are allowed there. Possibly only 100 people still lived on this rocky outcrop.

We walked to the church and there before us was the shape of a dove carved from a huge piece of stone - the symbol of the Cathars. Inside the church was an alter table believed to be from the 5th century.

Some information from Wikipedia

In 1210 a group of Cathars sought refuge in the village after the massacre of Béziers during the Albigensian Crusade. The village was besieged by Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester. The attacking army besieged the village for six weeks before it capitulated. They set up four catapults around the fortification: three to attack the village, and the largest, Malevoisine, to attack the town's water supply. Eventually the commander of the 200-strong garrison, Viscount Guilhem of Minerve, gave in and negotiated a surrender which saved the villagers and himself after the destruction of the town's main well. However, 140 Cathars refused to give up their faith and were burned to death at the stake on 22 July.

(I've only just noticed that as I write this, tomorrow is July 22)

Minerve will always be in our memory as one of the most amazing villages of France, even now after four visits to this diverse country. I don't think my photos do Minerve justice - But my memory does.

From the Languedoc, our travels take us briefly through Provence to Italy, but not before we stay at Menton on the border of France and Italy. Why? Because our home suburb of Mentone took its name this city in France.

A Busy Weekend

Retirement seems like an inviting prospect lately. Its tooooo hard to fit the things we want to do in life while also working for a living. Don't get me wrong, my working life gives me great pleasure. I guess I'm blessed that way but at 60 years young, there's so much more we can look forward to.
Friday night we were invited to join friends, Denise and Darren for a dinner, and how relaxing it was. A really nice way to start the weekend. Denise makes great crepes, yummmmm.

I needed to get my usual Saturday morning ride in and as we rode along Beach road with the Bay to our left and a clear sky as we drift out of winter, I thought, how lucky are we to live where we live. The Spirit of Tasmania had docked at Port Melbourne on its return from Tasmania. People were sitting in cafes, sipping coffee and enjoying breakfast as we zoomed down the road.
On the return journey its a bit of a race with an attrition rate. BUT all is rewarded with a coffee at our usual bike shop, come coffee lounge. Its always a good chance to catch up with friends that have the same passion.
Saturday night we had lifetime friends Gloria and Barry around for dinner. We were originally planning to travel together in 2006 (see recent Wednesday blogs) but circumstances changed. Baz has been a mate of mine since our art school days. I think Barry met Gloria at the local bus stop as teenagers - isn't that romantic.
After a short viewing of Le Tour I was in bed at midnight to race in an event in Ballarat.

Now Ballarat is not the best place to be in winter (by Aussie standards). It has lovely architecture and a great gold mining history. Maybe a subject for a future blog I think.
But in Lycra, it's not the place to be in winter. I was glad to be home after a pathetic performance.

Nico came home with a bronze medal - its a wonder that we let him come home with us.

I was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday night in front of the telly, starting with the highlights of the previous night's stage of the Tour. Its been an interesting Tour so far and of course the Aussie interest keeps us excited, but unfortunately the guys from downunder have been afflicted with a bit of bad luck.
Having said that, I think anyone that can finish the Tour is a Legend.

Watching Le Tour on telly and down they come.

And finally a win to Astana's Vino

This was followed by Sue's fave at the moment, Master Chef. Its getting very exciting in the final week - Master Chef that is, Le Tour has two more weeks.

The judges from Master Chef including Iron Chef from Japan - Can't spell his name.

Not many photos this weekend, been toooo busy.

An Addendum to a Long Day in the Languedoc

Last Wednesday we posted a day of driving around the surrounding area of Saint Chinian and discovering the ruins on a hilltop. My curiosity was getting the best of me so I hopped on Google Earth to see if I could locate the ruins. I had a vague idea but no luck.
Then I thought maybe our hosts in Saint Chinian, Andreas and Anthony may know of it. Within 24 hours of sending an email, Andreas came back, not only with a location but the name of the ruins.
After a little Googling, I discovered the following information;

Chateau Saint Baulery
The Château was built in the 1500's on the ruins of a 12th century fort. Records of wine making in the building date back to 1550, and ruins of stone cuves from that period are still visible. The Château and 37 acres of Carignan and Cinsault vines were purchased by the Durand and Valentin families in 1970. The winery was in poor condition and the families started restoration work immediately. At the same time, they planted additional acreage of Syrah and Grenache. At the time of the purchase, the Durands already had 30 acres of their own vineyards, including a small recently planted parcel of Syrah, one of the first in Languedoc. The Valentins also brought in their own 20 acres, mostly Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault. Today the Domaine consists of 128 acres of AOC vineyards, mostly in Pic Saint-Loup, with all of the Appellation wine estate-bottled at the Château.

This view shows the dirt road we drove up to the ruins, not quite sure if we were on private property or not. My curiosity took the better of me and I was hoping I would not be confronted by an angry farmer as I walked the final metres from the road side. Sue stayed by the car.

In this closer image, although fuzzy, you can see the foundation walls of the Chateau - just to the right, nearer to the road is the little chapel shown in last Wednesday's post.

  The remains of the Chapel in 2006

As they said in Watership Down, "You've read the book, seen the film, now try the stew" I now need to try the wine from Chateau Saint Baulery.

 

I was suitably impressed with the wonders of the Internet and cyber friends. Without them, I would never have learnt about these historic ruins.

FUNKY FRIDAY

Possibly a lesson on bike security here

A Long Day in the Languedoc

Wednesdays come around quickly and its off to another day's memories in the Languedoc. The photos on this post are of ruins we saw on our drive back to Saint Chinian. They absorbed my imagination as much as Carcassonne, but with no tourist in sight - that is except for us. I wish I knew the history behind these ruins.

The day started with overcast skies and a little drizzle – it only added to the texture of the village. We walked across to the Marche only to bump into our new found friends, Rob and Wendy. After purchasing the needed requirements we returned via the Marie to see if the library was open to access the Internet. No such luck, closed for one more day.

We decided to take a mid-morning drive into the mountains, the other side of Saint Chinian to Saint Pons. The road was wide and smooth, obviously built not too many years ago although one could imagine how nail-biting it would have been several decades ago. Along the way, there was a car pulled over to the side of the road. A local had decided it was time for lunch and was enjoying a baguette and a bottle of wine while his dog sat patiently waiting for any leftovers. His wife sat in the car.

We arrived in Saint Pons and walked across the car park to the Marche and casually started shopping when one of the staff ushered us to the door. We didn’t realise it was their two hour lunch break – nothing comes between the rural French and their lunch.

We returned to our villa to enjoy a baguette with a tasty pork terrine with cheese washed down with a beer.

After our lunch we were ready to explore more of the local area and took a drive to the west of Saint Chinian. The villages of Villespassans, Assignans and Cazedarnes deserved more time to discover on foot but you feel like you may be intruding on the resident’s privacy. These are villages without any commercial outlets but most have their churches and Marie. Most have lovely winding back lanes and seen from above have a snail shell layout. The back laneways are difficult to navigate, even a small car like the C3.

We reached a charming larger village called Cessenon-sur-Orb. Its central area had a few shops, bars and cafes opposite its picturesque church. We’d been without the Internet since Paris and we were keen to share our journey with friends and family. Sue had discovered that the best information on Internet cafes came from the local teenagers and so as a group of young boys and girls walked towards us, she asked them if there was Internet access in the village. Yes there was and the kids directed us back down the road to where we proceeded to send news home.

On the return to Saint Chinian from the corner of my eye, on the hill tops I thought I saw what looked like ruins. We turned up a small dirt road that meandered into the hills and there at the highest point was what centuries ago would have been a small community. The stone ruins took the shape of a small church, a castle and several other smaller buildings amongst the overgrowth of shrubs and blackberries. The buildings seem to have only small slits as windows. I assumed that it dated from medieval times and the it was built in this location for a commanding view of the valley below.

That night as we relaxed in our lounge room we heard English being spoken from the building across the street. Peering through our window we saw two middle aged ladies having a glass of wine on the balcony. We were invited to join them.

Lyn and Karen were from Canada and we exchanged viewings of each our villas. From the outside some of the villas look nothing but once entering the front door, some amazing decoration appears. Their villa was quite modern inside where ours retained much of the old world charm.

A long day was concluded with Wendy and Rob joining us for coffee.