What to do while there?

Our schedule is something like this: Get up and walk to the boulangerie while the coffee drips, Drink coffee until time to drink wine, Drink wine until lunch, Have lunch, Take a two-hour nap, Make dinner, Have dinner with more wine, Take a walk, and Go to bed. But, you may choose to do a little more.

The village: St. Jean de la Blaquiere is an authentic working wine growing village, a virtually undiscovered jewel in the recently “discovered” Herault region. The village is surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, leading up to high hills. It is 10 km from the spectacular Lac de Salagou and the river Herault.

Mediterranean beaches are also close by. The charming towns of Clermont L’Herault and Lodeve offer ample shopping and weekly open markets. The village itself is lively during the day, with children on the playground, shopping trucks in the square, and folks sitting outside at the bar in the center of town. By early evening, you feel you must whisper when you walk down the main street—it is so quiet and peaceful.

The square has a bar with outdoor seating, which is great for a cold beer. There is a children’s playground up by the bar (how convenient!).

The little store (Alimentation and Boulangerie) has fresh hot bread and croissants every morning open from 7 am (7:30 on Sundays) except Wednesday, when it is closed all day. It also has some other necessities but not much. The store is closed mid-day; so you may as well take a nap like everyone else. It reopens in the late afternoon, but not every day-- check the sign on the door and hope for the best.

The village has a cooperative for both wine and olive oil. The wine is OK, but the olive oil is great. Also the little shop has other French products worth having and taking home for gifts-- tapenade, soaps, etc. The hours are a little irregular (like everything else), but try weekday mornings but not Monday and not bank holidays.

The post office is up at the square by the Mairie (town hall/mayor’s office), and it is open mornings Monday through Saturday except one day, (maybe Wednesday?) when it is closed. The mayor speaks some English, and he is a very nice man if you have any questions for him.

The church has a notice for when mass is in this village and what times (usually 11 AM on Sunday). During the week, even Sundays, various trucks appear in the square to sell meat, fish, cheese, and vegetables. Just watch for them. I believe the fish seller comes in a van on Thursdays, for example; she blasts her horn to announce her arrival, usually around 9 AM. The goat cheese seller is there on most Sunday mornings. There is even a “coif-mobile” in case you need a haircut!

Our neighbors are friendly, especially if you “bonjour, monsieur/madame” everybody every time you pass them. Such a small gesture but an imperative in this world!

Walking about the village:

St. Jean de la Blaquiere lies at the foot of a valley. There are wonderful walks up the tracks, among the veins and olive trees to St. Privat at the head of the valley. You can also walk up the rocks you can see to your left from the balcony.

Much of the countryside is criss-crossed by tracks, just about big enough to take a car along, but mostly used by farmers tending their fields. If you are a keen walker, leave the house early (like 8 AM) and drive to the Gorges d'Heric (about 30 miles), walk to the top, walk back down, jump in the car, and follow the line of the river down to Roquebrun. Have lunch there at Le P'tit Nice, which has a glass box of a dining room overlooking the river. They have a plate of wild mushrooms that is wonderful.

Chateau La Sauvageonne:

Follow the signs up the hill from the village (St. Jean de la Blaquiere) square to La Sauvageonne. Say hello to the winemaker, who is English: Gavin. He makes wonderful red and very good pink wines: Les Ruffes is his “entry level” wine at less than $4—and it is very good. He is always making some new wines, so ask for “degustation”. He will have you taste it all in the order of his choice. They are worth bringing some home.

By the way, take your car up to the chateau—it is not as close as it looks. The view from up there is spectacular, so take your camera!

There are so many good winemakers and cooperatives in this area-- check the books in the kitchen on the South of France and Wines of Southern France, also just follow the signs and your heart. We just discovered a very nice sparking white wine made in Nebian—just south of Clermont. Go to the village, and look for the stainless vats that mark the cooperative. (24 euros for 6 bottles.)

Big Towns

You are near (10 minute drives) to both Lodeve and Clermont L’Herault. Gignac is smaller and worth the 15 minute trip.

Clermont L’Herault:

This is really an overgrown village; it has plenty of shops, two big supermarkets, and a traditional street market on Wednesdays. Clermont l’Herault is a wool town that specialized in cloth for the army. It is also known for the production of table grapes, and there is a good view of the surrounding countryside with it’s covering of vines from the huge 12th century chateau which dominates the town. Its ramparts, gates, and towers are among the best preserved in Languedoc.

The Church of St. Paul is an imposing example of northern Gothic with powerful flying buttresses. It was built from 1276 onward and has a particularly fine rose window. Check the door for upcoming concerts in the church.

We love this Wednesday market: go early, roam around for a parking place, wander the market, drink coffee, buy fresh vegetables, cheeses, fruits, olives, everything, drink some beer, listen to some live music, then go home and take a nap. The green Spanish pottery plates in the house come from that market (in cae you break any). This is a happy market and not to be missed. The market surrounds the church of St. Paul. Grocery stores.

There is local controversy about which is the better supermarket in Clermont: follow signs to either the Intermarche or the HyperU. It seems easier to park at the Intermarche; but the HyperU is bigger and may be a little cheaper. Like any Wal-Mart in the U.S. or Costco in the U.K., it seems a little overwhelming at first, until you learn your way around it. Remember to take a 1 euro coin with you to put in the shopping cart (you get it back when you return the cart.)

There are dry cleaners at both shopping areas; the one at the HyperU has 48 hour service (well, unless there is a holiday).

Lodeve:

Lodeve is the regional capital, a former city that depended on wool and silk weaving, that has now fall on hard times; but it is interesting to know that textiles are still produced here; since 1962 the Gobelins have had a tapestry workshop here, staffed by 40 Algerian women.

Lodeve lies at the confluence of the Lergue and Soulondre between the summer pastures of the Causse de Larzac and the vineyards of Languedoc.

The art gallery/museum is worthy of a visit and has had wonderful visiting shows. The Fleury Museum is named for it’s former owner, Cardinal Fleury, Louis XV’s minister and the 3rd of the powerful cardinals who ruled France. Lodeve’s cathedral was started in 1280 and was dedicated to St. Fulcran, a 10th century bishop whose mummified corpse was displayed on the high altar once a year, with an arm held aloft in blessing. As if that were not grisly enough, in 1573, the Protestants dragged the body to the butchers’ quarter and had it dismembered. What remains is taken on procession in its reliquary on the Sunday before Asension. Lodeve’s market is on Saturday, and the market is made unique in the area because of the large number of Algerians who have settled there.

Gignac:

Is on the way to Montpellier. Worth a visit to the old bridge (Pont) as well as an old (12th century) cathederal with stations of the cross going from the church out into the vineyards. Magical!

The Gignac market is Saturday morning. A very good market. There is also an Intermarche in Gignac. As always, follow the signs.

There is kind of a restaurant row down the main street; the one with the best reputation by far is Capion—but make reservations. We had a Font Caude (Montpeyroux) 1998 wine there once, and it remains the best wine we have ever had (so check out the wine list). Also, we’ve enjoyed L’Oleiade (near tourist office; see copy of menu attached); good home cooking food, good décor, full of locals, not a rip-off, sit outside or inside; a young couple opened it last year. Expect less than 20 euros/person with wine. See the attachment about Pelican also; it has a great reputation.

Pezenas:

Pezenas is a wonderful town, in some ways sleepy and small, suspended in its past. Pezenas was probably founded in the 6th century BC. By the beginning of the 1st century AD it had become a wool producing town—it is said that its wool was of excellent quality rivaling the best, which came from Spain and Egypt.

Moliere was born in Pezenas, and it is sometimes claimed that he wrote Les Precieuses Ridicules while in the town.

Check the tourist office for the dates of the Moliere Festival in the summer, a do-not-miss medieval event. The Musee de Vuillod-St. Germain, in a 16th century hotel restored in the 19th century, is full of local furniture, faience, and Aubusson tapestries—as well as Moliere memorabilia.

Market day is all day Saturday; and, although parking is a pain, hang in there because it is worth it; once you do park, plan to spend the day.

The Big City Is Montpellier

And a wonderful thriving modern city it is! Montpellier is a “newcomer” in Languedoc, born in the 10th century. The main (and perhaps only) drawback to Montpellier is getting either into or out of it in a car. Once you learn how to deal with the one-way streets and eccentric signs, you will have no problem getting to the Place de la Comedie.

The Place de la Comedie is the social heart of the city from which all traffic except buses and the new metro system has been banned. It is known as l’Oeuf from it’s original egg-shape, which has been traced on red marble on the paving.

The Opera House was rebuilt in 1888 by the architect who worked at the Paris Opera; you will note the affinities. Of note, Henry James found the cathederal in Montpellier to be “one of the weakest”. Alas. The Hotel de Varennes houses two museums: that on the second floor is the private Musee Fougau (with very capricious opening hours), devoted to popular arts and crafts. On the ground floor is the Musee de Vieux-Montpellier. Then, it is a short walk to the “new” Church of Notre Dame de Tables, which takes its name from an earlier church on whose forecourt the money changer’s tables were set up. Nearby is the Musee Fabre, where the painter Fabre left his own collection of Italian and French pictures to the city, as did Alfred Bruyas, another wealthy collector, who gave the museum fine works by Courbet, Delacroix, Gericault, and Corot among others. There are a number of paintings by Frederic Bazille, who was born in Montepllier and who was killed at a tragically early age at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.

When it rains in the Herault, which is not often, we go to Montpellier to the movies. In Place de la Comedie there are several multiplex theaters, Polygon and Diagnonal—if you don’t speak French, look for V.O. or version originale on an American or English movie; and you will see the movie in English with French subtitles.

Villages Nearby

Montpeyroux: is our favorite. This is a small village with amazingly more than a dozen winemakers. The wine from the cooperative is excellent. Even the wine from the “wall” available in 5 liter plastic jugs, is good; we always get the middle priced red at something like $1.60/liter, which we refer to lovingly as “the swill”! Go in for free tasting (degustation, s'il vous plait), and taste everything. In the town square near the clock, there is a petit marche on Thursday mornings (not really worth going to unless you are already there). The restaurant at the square has one of the best local wine selections around. Tell the owner Jean Marc or his wife Geraldine that you want to buy some of Charles and Renee Marie Giner's wine—on a hot day, try their new rose; on a cooler day, they have 3 or 4 reds to try.

We have learned that the wines are cheaper by far to buy there and take home, but it is also nice to sit outside, drink a bottle, and watch little Montpeyroux go by.

Say hello to Jean Marc if you see him. He used to be a pharmacist in the Loire region until he and Geraldine moved here and took a risk on a restaurant. Their baby girl’s name is Lola, and Charles Giner named a wine “Lola” to celebrate her birth. The restaurant has been very good, but has also recently has had its ups and downs and, sadly, is more popular now with tourists than locals. The fixe price lunch is probably the best bet! Every other June, Montpeyroux has an opening of all the caveau—for the price of a glass (something extravagant like $3) when you walk into town you can taste all of the local wines you want. There are local bands playing, food served in the street, etc.

If you are going in June, check the Montpeyroux website to see if you might be lucky enough to be there for the opening— if you are, don’t miss it! One of the region’s best wines, Domaine D’Auphilhac, is also in Montpeyroux. There is a great hike up to a ruined castle—park your car at Le Barry, a small neighborhood behind Montpeyroux, and climb up to the Chateau du Castelles. It is a short, easy hike; the castle is a treasure not noted on any Michelin map. You will be able to see the castle when you approach Montpeyroux by car—you’ll see a large crenellated castle spread across the hills—not lit up at night.

For a good side trip, continue through Montpeyroux up the D9, which is extremely steep (signs read “danger de mort!”) as you approach a mountaintop vantage. There is a restaurant up there and a gite. Also, from Montpeyroux, you can go back to St. Jean by heading through Arboros and taking the long and winding road… to home. Beautiful, can create nausea in the faint of heart.

St. Saturnin: is one of what is locally called “the 3 villages”: St. Sat. (for wonderful wine), St. Guiraud (the best restaurant in the universe), and St. Jean de la Blaquiere (where you now live). The 3 are within 5 km from one another. St. Sat. is a beautiful village, quite famous for its wine. Be warned, it has an uncooperative cooperative; it is hardly ever open. Just keep driving by when you are in the area; hopefully, you will get lucky. A favorite in the house at St. Jean is the Seigneur de Deux Virges , don’t buy a bottle; trust us, and buy a case (6 bottles). The Pressoir restaurant in St. Sat. is quaint, but friends and visitors have had bad experiences there recently-- Gordon does not like it at all, but previously I have liked to eat lunch there and usually had the plat du jour.

St. Jean de Fos: is a pottery center. Centre ville has several small restaurants and bars, and the pottery here is known all over France.

St. Guilhem: le Desert is a must, and entire books have been written about it. In July and August it feels like a tourist trap, but the rest of the time it is a beautiful village to walk through, tour the old abbeye, read the history, and use rolls of film. Despite the crowds, even during the summer, St. Guilhem is a peaceful village. The church is one of exceptional beauty. Guilhem was given this area in 788 for his faithful service to Charlemagne; and one of the treasures he took with him was a fragment of the True Cross, also a gift from Charlemagne. St. Guilhem’s tomb is in the crypt of the church, and his relics and the fragment of the True Cross are taken in procession in May. Be sure to take advantage of concerts in the church, usually posted on the church doors. If the weather is wonderful, wear hiking shoes and climb the hill behind the village (you can see the old ruins up there from the centre). Take a back pack with water, etc. (see attached for more information on St. Guilhem).

Full Day Trip

Get yourselves to the coast!

Look on the map and find Sete, another city that is more of a village; it has been called the capital of the French Florida and also the Venice of Languedoc. But, Sete is Sete and a picturesque town in its own right. Surrounded by water, with the Etang du Thau to the north and the sea to the south, it is the largest French fishing port on the Mediterranean. One of the attractions of Sete is its wonderful beach with 12 km of golden sands untouched by commerce (except the occasional Frites-Mobile) or high rises. Sete is the place par excellence to eat shellfish and the fishy mollusks—cuttlefish, squid, and octopus. The guidebooks have suggestions for lunch or just checkout one of the canalside restaurants, where you will be tempted by a 5 course meal for under $20. Better yet would be only one course at a more expensive restaurant, like black noodles (made with squid ink) and a sprinkling of tender cuttle fish lightly fried in a garlicky sauce.

If you are there in July, on the first Sunday the grateful fisherman celebrate their patron saint’s day with a procession through the town and down to the shore where a service is held to bless the sea. Water tournaments are another of the jollier entertainments that take place in Sete and other nearby towns.

There is a small museum in Sete named after the poet Paul Valery who lived and was buried in Sete; one room of the museum is devoted to the singer and lyricist Georges Brassesn, another Setois. There is also a movie theater in Sete! As noted above, just west of Sete is a public beach on the Med-- a beautiful drive, and if it is warm enough, take a bottle of wine, a bagette, a book to read, and a couple of plastic chairs for the day.

When you are ready for lunch, go to Bouziques and have lunch outside right on the Basin de Thau (oysters, oysters) at any of the waterside restaurants. The local wine to go with shellfish is Picpoul de Pinet. Cheap, crisp, lovely, local. Our friends Jason and Paige found a casino at Adge, South of Sete! However, Jason found that his running shoes were not acceptable attire! In the other direction, through Lodeve and up the mountains is Millau (pronounced Mee-yo). We are just getting to know this charming little city, tucked in a valley. The major attraction once you get there is leather goods—or so we’ve heard. The range of goods available here is wide, from handbags to high fashion, and well priced apparently. This city is a pleasure to explore on foot. Millau is about an hour’s drive from the house, and the drive is beautiful through the mountains.

There is Roquefort, to tour the famous caves of Societe and Papillion, also about an hour’s drive North (check the guidebooks in the house).

More About Food

Le Mimosa: One of the best restaurants in the region (in our view, in the world), is in the nearby village of St. Guiraud (go back down to St. Felix and follow the signs). It is right on the crossroads in the centre of the village. Run by a warm and friendly English couple, David and Bridgette Pugh, it is impossible to characterize. I have attached more descriptions of the restaurant. David is a true expert on the wines of the region-- you may want to ask him to choose local wines for you for each course, called the Degustation, at dinner. I suggest you ask to taste anything by Mas Jullien, which you can't get anywhere else by late Spring every year. Mimosa is expensive, so be prepared-- with wine count on $100 each, but it is worth one visit per trip! Reservations at 04 67 96 67 96. Closed in Winter.

Le Sanglier: is a hotel-restaurant down the road from St. Jean-- the pamphlet is on the board above the kitchen sink. It is the closest restaurant to the house, about a 5 minute drive back on D144. If you have a hankering for wild boar, this is the place. Make a reservation. They have St. Saturnin wine. If you try someplace good, leave the info on the board or in the notebook. While you are there, please be aware that the owners and all those who have come before you are very envious…

Don't Forget!

Lunch ends by about 2:30 and you won't find anything else to eat until dinner, which usually starts about 7:30 pm.

Siesta is serious. You won't find anything open between noon and 3 pm or sometimes noon to 4 pm. Recently, the supermarkets are the exception; they are open all day.

A lot of places are closed on Mondays.

Don’t forget that you are in a small village— remember that your voices, your music, and so forth are easily heard by your neighbors. Be considerate of their peace, especially when the windows are open.

The cheapest gasoline is usually the Intermarche. Don't get caught without gas on a Sunday or holiday. Keep a full tank with a holiday approaches.

Outdoor markets: Clermont: Wednesday mornings Lodeve: Saturday mornings Pezenas: Saturday all day Gignac: Saturday mornings Montpeyroux: tres petit marche en Thursday.

And, don't forget to say, "bonjour", "merci", and "au revoir".

Please make note of your discoveries—leave a note in the notebook or on the board over the kitchen sink. Thanks and Bon vacance!!