Abbaye de Fontfroide

Today was the excursion out into the countryside with my neighbors, Bob and Christine, Australians who have been here since September and will be here until December.  Then they leave for London, to see her family and then back to Perth.  It wasn't as beautiful a day as yesterday, but it wasn't raining, so we were all content.  We piled into Jason's van this morning at 9:00 and off we went.

Countryside near Carcassonne

We headed east, toward Narbonne, and then a little south.  I have a really great sense of direction and I have been completely turned around ever since arriving here.  It is MOST disconcerting.  After about an hour, we arrived at the Abbaye. 

The interior "Garden of Eden"

They won't let you wander through at your own pace, you have to take a guided tour, which was fine with me.  We all got those audio guides so we could listen in English.  Bob speaks very little French, Chris speaks some, but not enough, and I was surprised that Jason opted for the electronics.  He's lived here for 6 years or better now, but for the intricate details about the architecture and history, he preferred his native tongue. I found it too hard to listen to the English while someone was speaking French, so I never used the guide after hearing the first 30 seconds.  Besides, I found that I was getting most of what the guy was saying in French, and he gave information that the audiotape did not.

Our tour guide. 

You know, those Cistercians didn't have such a bad life.  8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, and 8 hours for praying.  There was time to tend the roses, and time to work the garden, or in the scriptorium. If only they hadn't been so intent on the extermination of their fellow human beings--the Cathars.  The spot is beautiful--as Bob noted, very Mediterranean.

Scrubby vegetation

 I saw my first olive trees, and wondered what the place would smell like in the heat of summer, especially out in the herb garden.  I have never seen landscape like this before:  limestone outcroppings and scrubby vegetation in some places.  Tall cypress and some evergreens.  Pomegranate and persimmons were growing on the trees in the rose garden.

Persimmons

Pomegranates on the tree

I was so impressed by the restoration of the Abbaye.  Every detail has been attended to; the can lights that reflect up along the walls have been disguised by putting them in terra cotta urns. The tour was informative and well worth the 10 Euros entry.















But the highlight of the day was lunch. Naturally!  We decided to eat on the premises.  Oh sweet mother of God, what a meal. We all decided to have the three course prix fixe menu--entree, plat and dessert for 22 Euros.  (Appetizer, main dish and desert) We split a bottle of the local rose wine, which was surprisingly good.  I had duck hearts with some pureed cauliflower and some wild mushroom sauce.  I could have stopped there, they were that good.  For my main dish, I had the roast pork in a dark red wine sauce with some vegetables.  And for dessert, I had the caramelied pears with a mascarpone sauce.  Believe me, I haven't eaten like THAT since the last time I was in Paris.  We all sopped every bit of every course with the local bread.  But the very best thing about the lunch was the time we spent lingering over it.  Jason was telling us that nothing, but nothing gets in the way of French lunch.  We laughed, because I had wanted to go into the bookstore-there was a cookbook I wanted, and I thought I would wait until after the tour to buy it.  I didn't want to carry it around with me. But, as soon as the tour ended, the bookstore closed.  Lunchtime! Jason and Bob were shaking their heads at the lost business, but nothing, but nothing gets in the way of lunch.  And today at lunch, we four English speakers were very very French in our approach to lunch.

Chris, Bob and Jason

We talked about everything--sports, politics, education, smoking, drinking, the 60's...you name it. And how we laughed. It was a perfect, perfect outing and I am so glad I got to know my neighbors a little better. 

From there we went to Caunes-Minervois, a medieval town about 18 km north of Carcassonne.  I have to confess that the four of us had more than one fit of giggling.  This weekend is a long weekend, because Monday is Armistice Day, a BIG holiday here in France.  So the place was deserted.  It's kind of an artist's colony with a collection of statues carved from the red marble quarried in the region.  Nothing was open, and we saw one artist, a jeweler, working.  I went into his shop and looked around.  I came out and then the rest of the group went in.  As it happened, the jeweler was English, so he got on quite a bit with my copains. But when I heard him speak in English, I remarked that I thought he was a "surly old Frenchman."  We all cracked up at that, especially when he replied that he tried carefully to cultivate that persona, and while he loved the surly, he wasn't so keen on the old. Whatever, he does very nice work.  Bob noted that the only person working in this most French of villages was an Englishman.

All in all, the day was great. Damned near perfect, I would say. We saw beautiful countryside, beautiful buildings, had wonderful food attentively prepared, and enjoyed becoming friends.  I don't know of too many better ways to spend a day.  I am blessed.

What secret meetings took place behind this door?

Photos of the day to come tomorrow.  For now I am tired and I need to get horizontal.