Narbonne
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2006
1
65
232
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Narbonne,
France
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Off to Narbonne today but first to Homps on the Canal du Midi. On the drive down there was nothing but grape vines as far as the eye could see. As we entered Homps we took a side track to a lake which was deserted, choppy and very windy. Bush fire weather. Just around the corner was the canal where we parked in the shade and walked over a cute, humped bridge to check out the times of canal cruises.
Homps was a harbour of sorts for all shapes and sizes of canal boats many of which looked stylish enough to be ocean going. They had to be a standard size however to traverse the canal and go under bridges and through locks. Most of them seemed to be rented although there were many on offer for sale. Some seemed to be on a permanent mooring with washing strung out along the decks
Homps, Canal du Midi again
. We had a cup of coffee on the canal bank and watched the antics on and off the water. In the background was a quite high range of hills...covered with vines of course.We walked along one side of the canal, crossed it by the road bridge and returned to the car. There are many new homes being built in the vicinity of the canal. Probably by other nationals who so enjoyed their stay they felt an urge to buy a little bit of paradise. We could hear lots of English being spoken as the holiday makers passed by on their motorised floating homes. They could not be called barges. I think we saw only one 'barge' in all our travels.
We parked the car upon our arrival in Narbonne under the Mediatheque a sort of town concert hall, walked across the busy road, turned off behind some houses and found the cathedral. Very old. Half of it seemed to have collapsed but it was closed for the morning. We stumbled upon the main square in the middle of which was a preserved part of a Roman road...via Domitia.
It was that midday time and most everything was closed except for a market alongside the canal which we wandered through but there was little of any interest
Narbonne , roof of Hotel de Ville, Anne's view
. Mostly household stuff. Not a CD in sight. In fact I had yet to see any music CD's in Italy or France. I could only assume that its music industry is dead or deader than it was in the 80's. Looking around at the youngsters I could see no earphones hanging over shoulders indicating the presence of MP3. The only evidence of music listening was a young man with a walkman CD player on his belt. Also in the main square was the hotel de Ville which advertised a bell tower climb of some 166 steps. We could not find it at first. We looked all around the building except for the most obvious place...at the entrance. It cost me 6 Euros but was well worth it. It was a tough climb up an endless spiral stair but it was worth it. I had a wonderful view from the ramparts over the cathedral and the city. Anne declined to join me.
I bought her an ice cream as compensation...from McDonalds.
Both of us however did go in to the cathedral which was now open. It was one of the best we had viewed. It was so high and wide. Its stained glass windows were all magnificent. In catholic fashion each chapel was a masterpiece in its own right with decorated altar, framed paintings, tapestries and high decorated ceiling
Narbonne, cathedral gardens
. At the rear was an immense pipe organ. It had been cleaned up and restored over the last two decades and that was still going on as demonstrated by the scaffolding and workmen on the southern side. Outside the main building were other chapels and cloisters.
We had lunch by the side of the canal...not the Canal du Midi but a tributary if that was at all possible. I had an omelette and Anne had a salad. As I may have mentioned before, the French and Italians are sadly lacking in imagination when it comes to food. We took a quick look at an underground Roman storehouse complex but baulked at the entrance fee. Walked back to the car and had an uneventful trip home.
AUSTRALIA ARE IN THE LAST 16.
