A Windy Palavas and the Foire de Montpellier

Palavas beach 12 Oct 2014

This was the beach at Palavas yesterday on a day when the wind blew in strong gusts, whipping up the sea which deposited branches and bits of reed in untidy piles. It was an incredibly warm 25°C with what must have been almost 100% humidity, so walking along the front made me feel sticky and sweaty.

Today, it was calm, and a number of John Deere tractors were out tidying everything up. The contrast was remarkable.

We had popped down to the beach in search of a sandwich for lunch. My DB and I had spent the morning at the Foire de Montpellier, a commercial bonanza of Italian leather sofas, ceramic pans, and double glazing. Everywhere you stepped, you got accosted by a desperate sales person. The place was closed yesterday because of the weather, so they'd lost a whole day of potential sales on one of the busiest days - a disaster.

We were drawn in to one spiel at what looked like a vacuum cleaner stand. A short and sparky lady showed us this wonderful cleaner which wasn't just a hoover, but a combined steam cleaner. It hoovered up, steamed cleaned tiles, shampooed carpets and dried the lot in seconds. Lovely. We asked about the price. She said we could pay as little as 40 EUR per month. "A vie?" asked my DB? (For life?). She laughed gaily and said it was so nice to meet people with a sense of humour.

After a suspiciously long time, she finally got round to giving us the price. Don't faint (we were sitting down by this time, just in case...). It cost a snip at 2500 EUR, with a 'special' event price of 2100 EUR.

Of course, she said we could pay it off interest-free in as many months as we liked, up to 48. Can you imagine still paying for your hoover four years later? We told her it was far too expensive, so she suggested we pay less per month. It was difficult explaining that it wasn't the monthly payments that posed a problem, but the total amount which was far too expensive for such a gadget, nifty though it was.

Then she said we could take the display model for... 1700 EUR, or if we were a business, we could get a VAT-free new model for the same price. She was doing her best, but even 1700 EUR was about 1000 EUR more than we thought the hoover should cost. Getting a little desperate, she then gave us the sob story about being closed the day before, and so she couldn't make four potential sales like she did the previous year on that day.

By this time, we were getting a little weary and not a little hungry. I had had my eye on the Italian hall with the intention of nibbling my way through lunch, so we made our excuses and left. Ouf!

After a tour of the Italian hall sampling the cheese and charcuterie which was all delicious but very expensive (pork 30 EUR/kg), I was still hungry so we went to the food court which was also expensive. That was when we decided to leave and go elsewhere, and ended up in Palavas with a tasty baguette sarnie by the canal sitting in the sun (25°C).

The weather is not a little amazing this autumn!

Biker WE - Wind Check

It was all set to be a glorious, sunny weekend this weekend, so my TWDB and I decided to go on 2008's Last Ride of the Year. Looking around the internet for a hotel open with a view of the sea near Perpignan, we found Thalacap in Banyuls-sur-Mer.

A word to the wise: don't go there unless you are basically unsound, need medical treatment and are preferably over 75.

It looked very pleasant on the internet, in flattering photos which discreetly hid its utterly hideous aspect. See what I mean here in the photos. They are tiny photos for a reason... It's a three-star hotel, in theory. There are lots of rooms which are sparsely furnished and decorated. True, they all have views of the sea, but it's a huge, imposing, ugly building, smelling of hospital, and attracting the plouc end of the population. It's at the opposite end to the Verchant Spa which is beautiful, luxurious, sweet-smelling and unmedical.

To say we were disappointed is putting it mildly, but luckily we are possessed of a healthy sense of the ridiculous, and had a good laugh.

We had got there via a circuitous route which included wine tasting at Domaine Henry, being blown along the coast towards Sète, then up inland to taste more wine in St Chinian, at Domaine de la Linquière. First though, we had lunch at La Calèche in St Chinian which we found by chance, and had a seafood salad, followed by grilled bar (fish) and finishing up with lemon tart. All for a very reasonable 16Eur pp plus half a bottle of local wine.

Thus nicely full, we went to taste our recent discovery - La Chant des Cigales cuve of Domaine de la Linquière. We tasted the 2003 which is no longer on sale, and then the 2005 which was so delicious we said we'd be back to buy in bulk, and took two bottles just in case.

From there we took the highway to Narbonne and then came off to take a series of more minor D roads down to Argeles-sur-Mer and on to Collioure and finally Banyuls-sur-Mer. It's quite tricky keeping track of roads and not getting lost on a bike because you can hardly have a peek at where you are on the map when riding. So you either have to memorise everything, or keep stopping, or get lost regularly. On our way down, we opted for the third choice, but on our way back, we were battling against the wind and had less desire to faff about, so we went for the first two.

After we had checked into the hotel, looked about aghast, nearly checked out, but opened one of the bottles instead to drown our 'sorrows', we went back to Port Vendres for dinner.

Having been blown about quite a bit, we thought the aptly named Tramontane restaurant looked promising, with its comfy chairs and happy-looking diners. We supped on local specialities - Leucate oysters, anchovies, chorizo, then confit de canard, washed down with a local red, and I had a fresh fruit salad for pud. I rounded it all off with a glass of 40° Vieux Banyuls which was very tasty and warming!

My TWDB was a bit worried about the next day's weather as the forecast warned of 100km/h gusts of wind so we decided to leave early and take it slowly. We kept as near to the coast as possible as the Tramontane blows from the west. It buffeted us about like balls in a pinball machine but there were only one or two really dodgy moments. Mind you, I wasn't driving! I think my TWDB was having to use all his strength to keep the bike under control despite the fact that it's incredibly stable and safe. Luckily, we made it into l'Herault where the wind died down, and could thankfully stop for lunch in Sète.

For those who are interested, the best bits of the road were the stretch from St Cyprien to Canet where we had the lagoon on one side and the sea on the other, the Corniche from Collioure to Banyuls, and the D627 between lagoon and sea from Port Leucate to Leucate. We didn't do it yesterday, but the road from Peyriac-de-Mer to Bages is also a stunner. The old N9, now the D612/6009 after Béziers follows the Canal du Midi for a time which is especially lovely in the summer.

Of course, it helps to have recent maps which have all the new numbers for roads since they were all revised... Just off to the shops...

Muddy Fingers

We've had a windy weekend. Trees have been blown down, garden centres have feared for their greenhouses and cypress trees have been left lounging at 45°.

I was out in it, oh yes! Having trundled around Botanic buying ground-covering plants, a birthday card for my sis-in-law (must remember to post it tomorrow!) and a gardening tool, I was keen to get everything into the soil and looking good.

When we came back from Botanic, the old lavender and rosemary plants which had been dumped on the path up to the door had been blown about the road making me think of those tumble weeds that you see rolling their way over the Texan desert. I meant to take them to the dump having decided not to burn them, despite the nice smells they would produce. For the moment though they are lurking in front of the house... sooo smart...

However, ignoring the rubbish, the front garden is now spruce with heather, new lavender plants to replace those sad old things that had been trampled on by my youngest, and a ground-covering spruce-type plant. I could go and look at the label, but can't be bothered - it's dark, cold and I've had enough! I was aided and abetted with removing some of the thousands of stones from our incredibly stony soil upon which formerly the only things that could grow were pines or vines, by said youngest who is in 'helpful' mode. Nearly six is a very appealing age.

The back garden now has planted: tomatoes, red onions, peas, strawberries, herbs, coriander seeds and the ground-covering plants for the steep edge. We are considering terracing the patch of weeds to grow flowers or nothing except gravel. It's with some trepidation though that I look at the work there is to do. The earth is heavy clay and the weeds are rampant having had a free reign since the autumn. The compost bin is filling up fast as we rid ourselves of the worst culprits - nasty prickly thistles.

By way of respite today, we went for a picnic at Restinclières, got the last available picnic table and enjoyed a simple lunch of crunchy bread, camembert au lait cru, cherry tomatoes, crisps and a nice rosé wine. We then meandered down to the source of the river Lez where the ResidentAdo said she would be camping sauvage with a friend this summer. As there are notices all over the place forbidding the lighting of fires, I wasn't too sure how this would be possible. It's a serious offense, too, those who disobey being liable for prosecution, so I just hope she is not heading for trouble even if the friend did go camping there last year.

Quite frankly, the idea of camping sauvage now leaves me completely cold. Give me free hot showers and clean loos any day. I was never very keen on it, but went along to be with the ex-h on the odd occasion (including our honeymoon!). Now though, it has to have four stars with playground for the boys and a place that sells frites.

Now, that's camping civilisé!