Around the local towns
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2006
1
67
232
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Felines,
France
Monday, June 26, 2006
Let it be known that Anne has given correct navigational directions twice this morning
contrary to my directions. She correctly found the Abbey whereas I was walking in the opposite direction and subsequent to that visit she also indicated that the snack bar or main shops were in the opposite direction to that which I had pointed. Wrong on both counts I felt suitably humbled.
We were in Caunes Minervois which we had threatened to visit to take a look at the Abbey. It was mildly interesting. Its maintenance was very obviously only locally funded. There were cement bags on the ground, an excavator under the tree, a couple of students making notes and us. It was old...in parts...but not very attractive
At a crossroads
. I reckoned it should have been pulled down years ago but don't tell Anne I said that and don't mention the fan.How much of the Abbey was original stonework who was to know. But no matter. If it is in its original shape and style so be it. I approve. But its not very attractive. Should be turned into a block of units. I sometimes wish that they would inscribe dates on the walls or some such to let us know what is old and what is new. We exited at the entrance and so avoided a fee.
That was the point at which I made the wrong decision to aim for the shops. We found a little park and a stream instead on the roundabout way to the snack bar. There was a banque, pronounced 'bonk', nearby to replenish our money pouches.[ I must find out what the French word is for 'bonk'.] There was not a banque in Felines. We were in the Rue des Martyrs. I loved the way the streets were named after people, professions or historical events. Mind you if I thought about it was probably the same everywhere. Its just that my mind automatically tries to interpret the name into English and then it sticks.
Everything was pink around the plaza we were sitting in
Caunes
. The fountain was pink, the snack bar walls were pink, Anne's face was pink, my legs were pink. The former were marble the latter were a result of the sun. There was an enormous sculpture at the side of the road as we drove in. Very contemporary and pink. In the Abbey I recall now there were some pink marble lamps so at a guess I would say there was a quarry around here with pink rock in it. On to Minerve itself. A bit further than we thought. Took a couple of wrong turnings. Very easy to do in this part of the world. Well worth the drive though. The town is perched atop a spur of limestone rock divided from the 'mainland' by two branches of the river Cesse. It was accessed by an arched, stone, single laned, road bridge. However, we parked the car on the mainland and walked over the bridge and strolled around the narrow streets. There were a few gift shops and wine 'caves' open but little else except for restaurants. It was a Sunday after all. Not a lot of people around...mostly tourists. From different parts of the town we could look down into the gorge on either side. There had not been much water through that chasm for a long time. Not much chance of that town being eroded away by water. It was a magic spot. I've never seen anything like it. One of the few towns around here that did not require a fortress for protection. I can imagine how a mouse feels stranded on a rock in the middle of a stream.
Drove home by 1.30 in time for lunch. The usual sandwiches. Anne fills her half brick with meat and salad. I use the more conventional square stuff using same ingredients plus my peanut butter.[ Not on the meat and salad!! On the other sandwich. . .with a banana.]
