We pass a very
quiet night, this place has been a really quiet little gem of an aire. Tonight
sees us doing a small skip down the road to our first French Passion . We have
been sort of avoiding them so far because they have been mostly Foie Gras producers
or farms because of the regions we’ve been traveling through and animals mean
Norm barking incessantly. But Les Penitents Bleus is a wine producer situated
on the banks of the canal midi. It sounds perfect. Despite only being 40k or so
away from where we stopped last night the landscape begins to change again…
vines start marching away as far as the eye can see and we are on relative flat
lands with the Pyrenees to one side and the Grand Massif looming away to the
other.
We make a
brief detour into Carcassonne to dip a toe into the fortress walls and see a
little of the city. It really is breath-taking, but even at this time of year
the old streets are very crowded and it makes for difficult passage with the
dogs. Especially when it transpires that Norm is scared of medieval pageant
type people beating drums! We flee to the relative sanctuary of the city proper
and restore ourselves at the fabulously French Café Felix. The city is a
strange combination of modern, ancient, beautiful and grotty. While Carcassonne
is a must see it’s not somewhere we find ourselves wanting to spend too much
time. With a quick zoom through an open air gallery after Café Felix we head
back to Valerie to continue on to La Redorte.
With fortuitous
timing we arrive at Les Penitents Bleus on the heels of one of the owners:
Solange. There is only one other camper here and Solange makes us feel very
welcome telling us to park up and enjoy the sun and giving us directions to the
local town (La Redorte) should we want to go for a mooch. The dogs are allowed
out and immediately take themselves off for a frolic down the canal which is
about 10 metres away by fields of vines. It’s beautiful and completely quiet. And
sunny! Solange leaves us to it with a parting invitation to join them for a
wine tasting in the evening. Oh, if we must, but what a bloody inconvenience,
really! If all French Passions are like this then it’s hard to believe anybody would
stay anywhere else. Or indeed be able to leave capable of getting out of the
parking space.
We pass a
lovely afternoon tinkering with Valerie and lazing in the sun. We take a walk
and Michel (Solange’s husband) gives us sneaky snicket directions through the vineyards
to La Redorte. The town is really charming, but quite quiet when we get there.
There’s a slightly incongruously deluxe hotel which looks amazing, but perhaps
La Redorte wasn’t quite ready for the uber glamour it exudes as it appears to
be up for sale. We wander back in the evening sun, ready for food and collapso.
Upon arrival back at Valerie we start cooking only to be kidnapped for the wine
tasting - life is such a drag sometimes! We sample Michel and Solange’s
selection of their produce, a variety of whites, reds and roses. They are all
yummy and the other campers who have joined us all get stuck in with
enthusiasm. We buy 5 litres of red for €10 and retreat to Valerie to salvage
dinner and sample our purchase. Everything delish, we love French Passion!
Thank you to our lovey hosts J
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