Ma vie en Roquessels

   Jenny has gone home and now the solitary part of this trip begins in earnest. Why did I feel the need to come to a place alone where I know no one? I have been pondering that all day. Until a wine maker that I met popped by to ask if I want to help with the pruning on Friday morning. Voila I thought... my answer~ It's not that I want to know no one, I want to know new ones! There is room in my life for new friends. To add to my luxuriously long list of wonderful dear old friends. That is the best medicine I can think of. Makes me smile to write it.
  I just came back from a nice long stroll through the vineyards. Saying aloud "I am walking through vineyards in France, I am actually walking through vineyards in France... I made this happen..." Quel miracle!
   I missed my dear co-pilot yesterday as I tried to maneuver my way out of Narbonne, a beautiful old city with windy one way streets that can seemingly end without egress. But the sun was out and flowers were blooming! I found les Halles, like it's namesake in Paris, it's an enormous market filled with all the good things in life. I found a creative way out of the city and meandered home where, seeking more sun, I climbed up to the ruins of the castle up at the highest point here in Roquessels. Other than one tiny old man making his way cautiously down a very steep windy path I saw no one. I just sat quietly for hours hours enjoying the extreme luxury of having no where to go and absolutely no obligations.

  My time with Jen was fun-filled and we saw many beautiful places. I was really glad for the company and her enthusiasm for the next great adventure. We checked out Pezenas, the closest bigger town, where most things are closed- it's off season now. But it was wonderful to be able to wander the cobbled alleys and see it all without much human distraction. Some cafés were open thankfully and we shared the most decadent crepe filled with caramized local apples- incroyable! We traveled to St Guilheim le desert, another breathtaking old medieval village, stopping on the way at Mas Daumas Gassac - a classy vineyard known for it's unusual blends and stellar wines for a memorable wine tasting. We saw Montpellier, shopping and eating and having a real memorable time in a certain parking garage, some things are just different here. We so happily traveled to the coast seeing beautiful Sète at sunset and arriving in Bouzique just in time for some of their famous oysters. Oh mon Dieux! Well worth the trip- I'll be eating a lot of these.
The round-abouts here too have been a hysterical feat for two of us. They are everywhere, just as you get up to speed here's another one to spit you out in a new possibly unmarked direction. It may have been a good idea to brush up on my french traffic signs before venturing out behind the wheel but alas I've been driving now for a week- feeling ever more (over)confident every day. 'Tis a memorable way to learn.

Mas de Daumas Gassac winery

Montpellier

Sète

 

 

 

 

 

 

Narbonne!

yes, those are flowers blooming in all those pots!

Les Halles