May 1, 2010 (Saturday) - Leaving the Dordogne for Occitanie

Up at 7:00 AM and got ready to leave. The house was pristine and we were packed to leave about 9:15 AM. No one was up so we left the key in the door and departed. We were glad we’d said our goodbyes yesterday. We’ll miss the two happy families and the lovely cottage. What a great area! [An Afterword: We did return the following year to the same gite and brought our younger daughter with us.]

We made our way to and through Gourdon with rain threatening. Missed a turn and took a shortcut to the A20. Had no trouble finding our road but the weather got worse and worse. It was raining hard before Toulouse and at several points we could hardly see. Fortunately traffic was light . . . something we hadn’t expected on a major holiday.

AutoRoute A20 near Gourdon driving to the Canal du Midi in Homps

Following the AutoRoutes 20, then 62, then 61 to our exit nearly four hours later

Following the AutoRoutes 20, then 62, then 61 to our exit nearly four hours later

We got off the AutoRoute at exit 25 and attempted to follow signs. This worked until we ran into a road blocked for construction in Lézignan-Corbières. Ended up in Olonzac and finally found ourselves on the map. We quickly arrived at our gite outside of Homps and were met by two very unfriendly dogs trying, nearly successfully, to jump the fence and rip out my throat. Jane, the owner finally appeared and calmed the beasts. She is a British woman and exceptionally chatty. We were shown our “room” for the next eight days. It’s all new but is a rather small studio with Italian shower and an unpleasant smell. Chalk it up to experience. She does have three friendly cats, a fairly nice garden and we do walk out the back gate onto the Canal du Midi towpath.

Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi

The rain stopped (most of it) when we got to the Languedoc but it’s windy, cold and the sky is black. We may be in for a storm. The wifi doesn’t work but it’s a holiday and circuits may be overloaded. Interesting . . .

We walked next door to the Logis de France, Auberge de l’Arbousier, and discovered dinner starts at 7:00 PM so we’re waiting. We had an AutoRoute sandwich for lunch and are ready for real food. Our gite shares a common wall with the auberge so we hope the food is good. It is very convenient.

Walked back to Auberge de l’Arbousier for dinner and it’s a winner. We got seats looking out onto the canal and both of us ordered the 22 euro menu. We got kirs to celebrate our arrival and then ordered the asparagus salad as a starter. Quelle surprise . . . the asparagus was green. In France it’s usually white. This was not only green, it was warm asparagus, absolutely tender, with a Parmesan disk and a cold tomato confit that was delicious. Ed ordered salmon with lentils as his entrée and I got chicken with a ratatouille. Both were excellent and the bread was the best we’ve had so far on this trip. Our cheese course was three tiny chunks of excellent cheese followed by a creamy chocolate mousse . . . all with a delightful Minervoise white wine . . . and . . . my favorite Lavazza Italian coffee. Great dinner. [Auberge de l’Arbousier, 50 ave. de Carcassonne, 11200 Homps, FRANCE; sadly no longer in business. It has been replace by Le Bistrot Gourmand that we haven't tried yet.]