May 6, 2010 - Caunes-Minervois, lunch and an Abbey

Our flaky British landlady did it again. We need to do a laundry and when I went in to ask for the machine, she didn’t answer the door. Waited a while and then Ed went in and she answered the door. When he asked if she was using the washer, she said she had just put in a load and we could do ours when hers was finished at 11:00. I painted and Ed read until eleven o’clock and we then went in search of Daffy Jane. We found her and she looked at our small load and exclaimed dramatically, “Is that all you have? I have an industrial sized machine. Go get all your things.” Ed dutifully returned and got our darks to make a larger load. It was well after eleven o’clock at this point, but when he brought all the laundry in she said, “Well, you can’t have the machine until eleven; I just put my darks in.” She obviously had no idea what time it was. We weren’t going to get the machine before noon and she had used the entire clothesline. We hand washed undies for tomorrow and left after making an appointment for 9:00 AM tomorrow. We also discovered she expects us to pay eight euros to do our tiny wash, and she has no dryer. The place in the Dordogne gave us our own washer, soap for laundry with a clothesline and a bag of pins. Live and learn, but this place in Homps is a disaster. (As an aside, we have often returned to the area but never returned to that particular gite.)

It was nearly lunch time so we decided to drive to Rieux-Minervois and visit the polygonal church (14 sides) and have lunch. Drove through Rieux three times and couldn’t find the church so moved to Plan B and continued north to Caunes-Minervois to visit the abbey. We found the abbey, found parking and decided we better find lunch before the two o’clock witching hour after which one cannot get lunch in France. We set off on foot and ended up at Restaurant La Grande Fontaine, a bar-tabac by a huge fountain. We were ushered into the dining room and noted I was the only female in the entire place. Three more women eventually came in but the clientele was mostly noisy male local workmen. Ed got the cassoulet and I got lamb. I guess the cassoulet was fine but the lamb was overdone and tough. The thickest piece was just almost edible. The salad and dessert were quite good and service was fine. They do have a lovely real restaurant room upstairs for weekends. Expect it’s the same cook though. [Restaurant la Grande Fontaine, 1 rue d'Aiguebelle 11160 Caunes-Minervois; tel: +33 (0)4 6878-0063; Click here for the Grande Fountaine Restaurant web site]

Entering Caunes-Minervois on rue des Ecoles

Place de la Republique in Caunes-Minervois

Grande Fontaine of Caunes-Minervois

Parking lot with everything on the Argent-Double River in Caunes-Minervois

Village of Caunes-Minervois - a Doorway

After lunch we walked a block to the river to take photos and then up to the abbey where we paid and entered. It’s a conglomeration of styles dating back to when it was founded in 780 and dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The ancient Carolingian church was replaced by the present building in different stages of construction. The apse and towers are Romanesque while the nave and porch are Gothic. Abbot Jean d'Alibert (1598-1626) made good use of the local red marble that can be seen in abundance inside the church. Restoration is ongoing. The cloister looked brand new but the crypt was ancient. The church was very Baroque looking, and upstairs there were a few art exhibitions . . . modern and of varying interest. We exited via the gift shop and got a mini DVD of Cathar sites.

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois - Entrance

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois - Cloister

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois - Stained Glass

Ed in the Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

View from Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Information sign at Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Abbaye de Caunes-Minervois

Caunes-Minervois - village street

Caunes-Minervois - a very dignified local cat

Caunes-Minervois - Old City Walls

Vineyards we passed driving from Caunes-Minervois back to Homps

We walked back up the hill to our car and drove home, stopping at Intermarché in La Redorte for gas. Back at the house, we left our things and headed out the garden gate to the canal where there are boats lining both sides, presumably for the holiday weekend. (May 8 is V.E. Day this year.) I had some old bread so fed a lone duck by the gate. We walked into town and stopped to feed a few more ducks until we ran out of bread. The epicerie was still open so we got bread, wine and an apple for dinner. On our way home we saw seven ducklings that had been hiding before. They were really cute!

I transferred pictures and checked e-mail as we watched the stock market tank on CNN. At least the euro is tanking with it if that is any comfort.

Canal du Midi outside our back door

Paroisse Notre-Dame en Minervois at Homps on the Canal du Midi

Mom and Dad Duck with ducklings on the Canal du Midi

Path from Homps to our Gite on the Canal du Midi