Our town is surrounded by mountains. They look like gentle hills in some places (unless you try to climb them) and they appear to be craggy mountains in another direction.
The sun on rocky mountain crags
So many times, my run is interrupted by the need to halt and take a picture. I wonder if other people think I'm a tourist. Maybe I still am.
Low-lying clouds
I went for a walk with Grace one afternoon and she asked the clouds if they were tired, resting on the mountains so.
This is a view I often take as I run across a bridge.
The same view on a sunnier day
And here's a snapshot of the bridge where I stop to take the picture.
A sunrise through the mountains
Every morning, when I leave the house to run or walk, I'm always startled by the beauty. Around every corner might be another beautiful vista that makes me slow to a walk and snap a picture.
I'll be perusing my pictures the next few days as we have rain, including a flood warning for tomorrow morning, but I hope I'll be out running again, searching for landscapes that move me, even if they are mountains.
Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
During our trip to France, we planned to visit different markets. We lost a bit of steam during the final week, enjoying hikes and long lunches rather than traveling to various villages.
One morning, we had limited options for markets and we decided to drive to Caunes-Minervois.
The description we had read talked of a full and lively market, so we were a bit surprised when we arrived to find just a few carts set up. Not even a haircut caravan like we found in Roquebrun.
We bought a few apples to give the mule the next day on our hike. The apples were a bit shriveled, making us even more disappointed in the market, although it was late in the morning.
We kept imagining that we were in the wrong place, that we hadn't found the right market.
Spotting signs for the tourism office, we went to figure out where we had gone wrong.
The very nice woman shrugged off the incorrect market information and instead focused on the benefits of the town.
It's know for its special red marble and a Romanesque abbey. We hadn't missed the fabulous market: there wasn't one.
With a map in hand, we decided to explore the village.
You can see the marble on this fountain. I'm not sure why it was dry.
We wandered through the stone streets and I took a shot of this Medieval building. I'm not sure it is a castle or the abbey.
Once again, it was getting past lunch time and we became nervous about finding a place to eat. We headed toward the main road, but didn't see any restaurants. Back into the meandering old part of town, and we saw a bus full of people heading for a hotel restaurant. We had already looked at the menu and the prices there and decided it wasn't for us, but we felt jealous of that busload of tourists filing inside to eat.
We consulted the map and changed directions.
Finally, we rounded a corner and found a restaurant. I could see that the indoors was a bar and several tables with umbrellas were set up outside.
I asked one of the servers if we could get lunch and he answered, "Of course."
We settled under a big red umbrella and every picture I took has a red hue to it from the reflection.
Earl looks tired in this picture, but I actually think this was the one time we got a bit tipsy at lunch. We started with an aperitif -- kir au vin blanc, which is kir in white wine. Then we had a half pitcher of wine. We had to sit at the table for quite a while and walk around the town taking pictures before we were certain we could drive back.
The food was mediocre, but we sat under the red umbrella, eating, drinking and watching people. There was a community table where locals came, some joining for lunch, others for coffee or wine. How nice that men and women alike greeted each other and sat at the community table.
Because I could see that inside the building it was a bar, and some cafe/bars frown on having women inside, I sent Earl in first to use the "toilette."
He came back announcing that it was fine, clean. He told me I could even go in the other outside door to avoid walking along the bar. So I did, but when I got to the women's restroom, I saw the sign that women needed to ask for the key. I trudged to the bar and requested the key. I'm not sure why the women's restroom needed a key and the men's didn't. Was it to discourage women? Was it so it stayed clean?
After our meals and dessert and a coffee, we walked around town some.
Near the parking lot, canals had been built using the red marble and sending trickles of water from the river throughout the park area.
Along with the canals were series of statues. Some of the art seemed abstract while other statues were more realistic.
I think this one was called "the kiss." I know, not an original title.
This was some sort of wild cat, maybe a jaguar -- plus Earl, of course.
And here I am, by the riverbed, map in hand before we drove to Carcassonne to search for a chocolate shop. There's only so many days we can go in France without buying chocolate.
This isn't a village we plan to move to. I'd probably give it two baguettes.
Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your link below and visit each other's blogs to share your love for France.
We continue our meandering vacation, driving to markets, hiking, eating.
Our Airbnb host is rather appalled at our lack of plans to visit touristy sights. She suggested we visit a famous church/town near here called Rennes-le-chateau.
Her husband even brought by a book that he had bought in French but ended up unable to read -- they're Australian.
The book is about a priest who was assigned to Rennes-le-chateau in the late 1800s. When he got there, the church was a mess, falling apart, and he had no money to fix it. He received a donation from a countess and began to make repairs. Suddenly, he was buying land and having stone masons build gardens and a tour.
The rumor is that he found treasure under the church. Other people have tried to find it, but the real treasure now that they earn is in the tourists coming to visit. I haven't checked out this website, but it claims to have lots of links if you're interested in the mystery.
Apparently, some of these stories were used in the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.
This is a tile that was found at the church, allegedly face down so no one knew it was there. I can definitely see a connection to the Crusades here.
Whether there's a hidden treasure from the Visigoths, Celts, Romans or the Knight Templars, the grounds look pretty amazing now.
This is a tower that the priest built and used as a library. It's a little sketchy that he built all these opulent buildings for himself, in my opinion. Of course, the church wasn't using money that judiciously in the past anyway, so maybe it didn't matter that he didn't share.
Here's a view of the countryside.
Me, in front of the tower.
Here's the inside of the church. I love when churches use that cobalt blue for the sky with stars painted on. The church has a bizarre statue of the devil stooped over with a basin for holy water on his shoulders. Just last month, a Muslim woman is charged with vandalizing it -- she broke the head off.
Here's how it looked when we saw it Thursday.
Here's how it looked in a picture about the news story, before it was vandalized.
Had you heard about this place? I hadn't.
We're off to Paris to spend a few days before heading back home. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
So, I'm in France now -- no longer just dreaming of France, I'm actually living it, although today, I'm exhausted with 27,000 steps on my Fitbit -- that's 11.5 miles.
We started Mother's Day with a hike in the Pyrenèes -- a six-mile walk into the mountains.
Then we had time to grab lunch and take a shower before meeting a blogging friend, Taste of France, and her husband in Carcassonne. They have two gorgeous 17th century apartments in the heart of Carcassonne on Airbnb, so if you're looking for a place to stay, I can highly recommend them.
Now, I had no idea that the city of Carcassonne and the huge fort and castle on the hill were two separate place but within walking distance of each other.
Our GPS wouldn't pick up the square where we planned to meet, so Earl and I just followed the signs to La Cité.
Wow. Doesn't it take your breath away?
Then we walked down into Carcassonne to meet my blogging friend.
The day had threatened rain, but it turned out to be quite warm. We sat in a beautiful square, where apparently the market is held on market days.
Then we checked out some places in the old city. If I got part of the story straight, Carcassonne was partially built by King Louis IX after the Cathars were thrown out of La Cité during the 12th century crusades. The people had no place to go so a city across the river was born.
Next we walked up to the fortress.
It reminded me a lot of Mont St. Michel. The medieval fort and castle is filled with touristy shops but hasn't become Disneyfied. Every step inside reminds you that ancient people lived there and made their home there.
It's all pretty amazing.
And then on the way back to our B&B, we had to stop the car for goats! What?
Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave you link below and visit each other's blogs to share your love for France.
Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
There's something exhilarating about the purchase of the airline tickets to France and the confirmation of hotel reservations.
It puts a zip in my step as I imagine that day in May when I'll be learning abut the southwestern region of France, the area where I hope to move during 2017.
The area we are thinking about stretches along the Mediterranean, from Marseille over to the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. It has been called Languedoc- Roussillon, but the new name of the region is l'Occitanie.
Sete is a town along the Mediterranean that really is just a spit of land between the Mediterranean and another large body of water. Love these colorful boats.
Here's a photo of the fortifications at Beziers, another city near the Mediterranean. It looks so similar to Avignon with the pale stone fortress.
The Canal du Midi also runs through region, passing near Carcassone. I couldn't find a good photo of Carcasson, so I'll just have to take one myself when we're over there.
And who knows, we might end up buying a house that has a view of the Pyrenees. It may be hard to choose between the sea and the mountains.
Hopefully, we'll love this region as much as we enjoy Provence, because the prices for houses in this area are much less expensive than in Provence.
The photos included here come from Pixabay, which shares pictures free.
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