🎶The hills are alive🎶

“L’Été has indeed arrived in our French village. But in my bedroom the weather felt tropical as my temperature continued to rise and my eye lids,  too heavy to lift, stayed closed, off and on, for four days. French doctors were called, more drugs administered and gradually over the last ten days I’ve almost returned to normal.   Though often weary to my very bones.

During this time we had Sara and Brian staying for a week, then Mandy and John for four days. I was carefully ladled in and out of cars and slept through some of the most amazing scenery in Europe.
Sara had long wished to eat at the oyster restaurant Tabourieche of which I’ve spoken in previous blogs. We managed to get a table one Sunday lunchtime. Whilst SuperBri and I aren’t big shellfood eaters we shared some mussels,drank some wine and grew misty eyed over the views.

Having undertaken a very long walk to the villages of Neffiès and Gabian (7 and a half miles) our guests decided to take up Gazzie’s offer of a chauffeured research day, checking out venues for their next energetic adventure.  So we set off for Roquebrun (remember bloggees we went there in January to see the mimosa).   Roquebrun is even more beautiful in the warm, bright sunshine and we stood, yet again transfixed at its beauty, seen this time from the river’s edge. Unfortunately for our would be kayakers all the rivers are in  spate.  Very high water levels due to heavy rain earlier this month, making most water sports too dangerous.

Now I don’t know whether you, dear readers have Happy Happenstance Days but we do occasionally and this turned out to be such a day.

We decided to drive further into the mountains and show  Sara and Brian Olargues, one of the “Plus Belles Villages de France”.   We had had  beautiful lunch in this pretty little place when we were here with Maz and Johnny in September.  Delightful in every way possible.   The restaurant, however was closed and we had begun to look longingly at the rather ugly brown sheep on the hillside.   Finding (on the internet) an Auberge only 10 mins away in Mauroul (a village we’d not heard of), we rang.  “Oui”, said Madame.   “Nous avons une table pour  vous”.    The ten minutes must have been as Concorde flew, for it took considerably more though we hardly noticed time passing as we climbed higher and higher, through pine forests, punctuated with little waterfalls tumbling down to the road.   Cherry trees, hardly able to hold their white blossom , filled every space on the mountains and in the forests …. and up above us this tiny village of maybe 50 houses came into view.

There was an almost Tyrolean feel to the place and I wouldn’t have been in the least surprised if Julie Andrews had popped out in blond bent-up pigtails, singing “ High on a hill was a Lonely goatherd”.  We climbed up to the auberge past little houses in streets identified by their names hand written on slate and were very warmly welcomed by Madame.

The plat du jour was 23 euros and included Roquefort Tart, stuffed leg of guinea fowl and strawberries three ways.  A pitcher of house wine was better than any wine we have tasted so far in France.   We were the only guests.

We felt chosen; we felt privileged and we felt as if we had found our own bit of heaven.

The following day we all went to Beziers once again to find some kayaking but the rivers were still too swollen for safety.   On the upside we found a pretty part of Beziers that we had not previously known.

As we were close by we visited Les Neufs Écluses de Fonsérannes.   This is the third most visited tourist attraction in the Languedoc Rousillon area (after the town of Carcassonne and Pont du Gard).  These are staircase locks and consist of 8 ovoid lock chambers which allow boats to be raised a height of 21.5 metres in a distance of 300m and is still a very important part of the Canal du Midi.

What adventures we had and on top of those we visited several restaurants including Chez Paul in Pezenas where all courses are served together on one slab of slate (it works. Don’t ask me how).  We also returned to Chateau St Pierre de Serjac and spent five hours over lunch.  Our exhausted little group got together for their last evening before the young ones started on the next leg of their European tour.

I knew this was not going to be an easy one for me.   Still feeling very weak and waving goodbye to our lovely girl and man.   We knew not for how long.   So it was fortuitous that we had all been invited for Apero.  I’m not sure if this is a French thing or a Languedoc thing or even an ex pat thing but it is rather like the old UK cocktail party.  Arrive at 6.30, drink and eat nibbles and leave at about 8.30.  Not something I’ve looked forward to, not knowing whether the guidelines are strictly adhered to or not.  Any old road I’ve recently made a friend of an amazing woman called Zara and her husband Chris.   They live in an exquisite villa in a nearby village,   Zara was a teacher of interior design and her house is an eclectic mix of total amazingness.    Colourful, clever, zany, beautiful and yet calm and welcoming.   We took our Sara and Brian and were treated royally to wine and Persian food. warmth and laughter   I can never thank them enough for making the last evening of an amazing week as special as it was.

And so more goodbyes, more tears (both happy and sad)   Gaz and I walked back indoors together, raced upstairs and started making the house nice for Mandy and John.   Oh and that complete rest I’m supposed to be having?   Plenty of time for that when I get old!

(Some of Zara’s work)