You should notice in the first photo the unusual nature of the day, or rather the date.  To maximize the effect I waited (crouched in the car) until the precise moment of 10:10 AM on this date of 10.10.10. My rental car clock radio had the most 10’s together that I could find.  I think that this happens again in another 100 years.  Not many of us will be around to witness this next numerical minute in time.

Interesting date or not, the morning started out cloudy and wet. It turned into one of the largest storms in years.  The drive from Maury to the large working French city of Béziers was beyond description.  The Vallé d’Algy tightens up such that the Algy River and two miniscule lanes of road barely fit between sheer slabs of rock.  The area appears to have plenty of eco-tourism as there were many buses (take a moment to think that one through on this narrow stretch of road with a sheer wall of stone on one side and a fairly substantial drop to the river on the other) and billboards for rafting, hiking, and lots of daily rentals.

The rain fell in sheets and I actually had to pull off the road a couple of times to let squalls push by.  But with my stomach leading me on I made it to the charming village of Lagrasse just in time to tuck into lunch.  The town is one of a handful that is officially stamped as a “beautiful village” or Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and indeed it is.  A plane tree lined main boulevard provides shade and space for the primary commercial zone.  A flank of restaurants rules one side of the road.  On this day the outdoor dining portion of the street was empty and the restaurant windows were steamy from families enjoying their Sunday lunch trying to stay dry and warm.  An aroma of mothballs made it clear that winter clothing was making its first appearance of the new season.

I found a modern bistro run by a couple of guys in the typical arrangement of one in the kitchen and one in the front of the house.  I enjoyed my usual salad, but added jambon et fromage for their fat content (it was cold and wet!) and shifted from my usual rosé to a hearty Corbières red.

I approached the hilltop city of Béziers around 4:00 in the afternoon as I had said I would.  It was Sunday and with the weather the place was barren so I took a few minutes to drive around and get a feel for the layout.  My instructions had me heading toward centre ville, l’Hôtel de Ville et Les Halles, all well signed and central.  The owner of the apartment building, Malcolm, was thankfully waiting with an umbrella.  It turns out that I was parking my car some distance away and needed to unload (and quickly as this was a “living” street with people, cars, etc.) all that I needed.  Since I had been both living out of my car AND had all that space available why streamline?  I grabbed what I thought I needed and off we went to the car park.

A narrow twist of stairs leads to my third and top story flat.  After a few loads I “moved” in a bit but this was not my last apartment.  This is old world charm.  A reminder that this is a 3rd century building helped put it into perspective.  Naturally I quickly discovered that I did not have everything I needed.  On my first attempt to find the car I failed.  I returned looking like a drowned rat.  Malcolm met me at the door and updated my directions.  I headed back out, successfully found the car, stuffed some additional necessities into a plastic sack and returned “home” drenched but with some very important items (can you believe that in my initial grab I forgot the box with wine and chocolate??!!).

As it was Sunday and my first night in town Malcolm kindly invited me downstairs to his flat for dinner.  He used to own a restaurant and although he was up front he seems quite at ease in the kitchen.  We had a delicious fondue with morsels of salmon, mushroom, cod, courgette, shrimp and a small cherry tomato and cucumber salad.  Each tidbit was forked, dipped in a batter and dropped into sizzling oil.  The result was a crispy outside, soft inside burst of crunch and flavor.  This was topped off with a bottle of his “house” wine, a robust and still lively Corbières from 1998.  A perfect first meal in the Languedoc.

And Where Were You This Minute?

To The Left of Me

To the Right

The Width of the Road

Looking Straight UP!

A Show Stopper Along the Drive

Its Meaning

The Beauty Continues

More Variation in Flora

They Pop Up Out of Nowhere

SO WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS OF LAGRASSE?  The photographer is slacking!  May have to head back there just to remedy this oversight.