Quite a cloudy day but not cold and with rain forecast for later in the week we decide to head to Colombiers with the bikes to make the best of it. This is a small village on the canal about 30 minutes drive from Pezenas that has re-invented itself to cater for the summer hoardes using the canal – walkers, cyclists and boaters of every kind. There is a small boat basin where you can hire boats in summer and a few restaurants and eateries spread around the port. On a cloudy December day however there was not much action and we have the usual supplies of tea, coffee, ham, cheese, salad and fresh baguette (Never go anywhere without a baguette).

We stop in the town car park, brew coffee and get the bikes ready. After a little look around – mainly to find the toilets – we set off along the canal tow path towards Capestang with the intention of stopping for a picnic lunch at Poilhes. It’s a lovely start, there’s no one about, the canal looks lovely lined with trees and we make good progress. Then – the tunnel – a 100 meter section of canal with no path so we have to go up over the top. It’s not clear where to go here so after several trips up and down gravel tracks we finally stumble upon the canal again only to find it’s closed!!

Yes – the old ‘Route Barree’ returns to haunt us again and block our ride. Barb spots the ‘Deviation’ sign so we are now cycling through vineyards well away from the canal and wondering where we are going. Eventually the track turns in the direction of the canal and we re-join the towpath. Time for food we think – so we stop for lunch.

The clouds are building now and looking a bit ominous so we retrace our steps and return to Colombiers.  It turns out to be a really nice ride but not quite what we expected. We vow to return to find the Etang de Montady – a circular field pattern that goes back to hundreds of years. This is what we should have seen!

Montpellier v Leicester Tigers, Heineken Cup round 4, December 15th

We bought tickets online a while back and managed to get them printed while in Montpellier on Monday.

After a long bike ride this morning and a quick lunch we drove to Saint Jean de Vedas to the terminus of the line 2 tramway. Tram to Sabine and a short walk to the Yves du Manoir – the Montpellier ground.

The weather was warm (again) – clear blue sky and lovely sunshine. The stadium was impressive  – not full though and there was a good proportion of Tigers supporters who had made the journey to the south of France. There was even a large contingent of Exeter Chiefs supporters who had been to their game in Toulon yesterday.

After the game last week when Tigers won 41-32, we expected a fast open game with lots of tries – oh no! At half time, after an exciting first half, it was 0 – 0.

During the break we had the usual picnic – quiche, salad and nibbles. We’d already polished off the tea and cake when we arrived.

The second half was DULL.  Tigers were half asleep, Montpellier defended well and despite an early Tigers breakthrough, the home team  took control and led 14-5. A Tigers penalty brought them within one score and as is typical, a last minute try and conversion gave Tigers the game 15-14. They were fortunate and we actually felt sorry for the local supporters who were crushed by this last gasp victory.

We took a few pics –

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A free Montpellier flag won Barb over and she is now an ardent supporter and vows to return on 29th December when Montpellier play Biarritz.

After our trip to Montpellier on Monday, the weather clouded over a bit for a few days so no morning frosts and slightly warmer temperatures.  We’ve had a fairly low key week sorting out a few things at the house, doing a big supermarket shop and finding out more about what’s around Pezenas and beyond.

After a bit of a battle with DHL, we finally managed to take delivery of Derek’s parcel and he set up his turbo trainer on the patio – it’s a good substitute for the spinning classes he was doing in Stratford and he reckons it works off the calories that the beer and red wine might otherwise pile on.

We’ve walked around Pezenas quite a bit now and have started to join it all up.  It’s got a lovely old town which is a centre for arts and crafts so lots of grand architecture and little artists’ studios as well as all the usual boulangeries and charcuteries.  The big supermarkets are on the outskirts and are close enough to walk to.

We went down to the Saturday market again which we really enjoyed and had coffee in Cafe des Arts sitting in the sunshine.

The Christmas festivities have begun in the town with all the Xmas lights on and some sort of mad procession on Saturday night.

We’ve done a bit more walking and cycling – another lovely ride around the vineyards above the town and back through Tourbes – I am getting a bit better at the hills and more used to the gears on my bike.  The area has miles and miles of vineyards everywhere – the vines look pretty brown and bare at the moment but there is always a lone fella tending them by hand.

Having got some maps and walking guides, we set off to walk La Via Domitia, an old Roman road in the Bois de la Vallongue near Pinet where they make the Picpoul de Pinet wine.  Despite maps, finding the start of the walk was very tricky but Derek’s persistence paid off and the walk itself was fabulous with pine trees and grape vines everywhere, lovely views, information boards and clear signage.  We will certainly revisit.

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We also had a drive to nearby Agde, a town dating from Phoenician times!  and then on along the coast to Seté, stopping for a cup of tea brewed in the back of the Volvo and drunk on the windy beach.

Derek is out doing a long bike ride at the moment and then after lunch we’re off to the rugby in Montpellier.  Come on you Tigers!

Drive into Montpellier today. Autoroute A9 to Saint Jean Le Sec and park at the P+Tram.

We take line 2 into the centre of Montpellier and recce the station so we can pick up guests when they arrive and try to find long stay parking for my trip back to UK in January.

The Tourist Office is helpful and we also track down an internet cafe to print our tickets for Montpellier v Tigers on Sunday. Line 2 also goes close to the ground so we think we can get to the stadium, through the turnstiles and find our seats.  But who knows!!

We wander aimlessly, grab a Croque Monsieur (yummy) and a Hagen Dazs ice cream (far too sweet) and find the Christmas Market.  There are over 100 wooden cabins all selling some quite nice things – not the usual Christmas ‘tat’.

There are lots of shops and we discover C&A, Gap, Burton and Habitat. A bit bizarre really.

Decide to head back – retrace our steps on the tram, which is a great mode of transport by the way and then hit the Péage. It costs €3.10 to do 2 junctions on the toll motorway.

It looks like the weather might change later in the week so we plan a bit of bike riding tomorrow although we may have to grapple with DHL again – now there’s another story!!

Feel a bit awkward writing this blog as I know there’s a lot of bad weather in the UK at the moment but once again, it’s clear blue sky and sunshine.  There was a slight frost on the patio this morning (Sunday) but Saturday was really mild and we sat in the sunshine at a cafe having mid morning coffee yesterday (sorry, readers but it’s just lovely here at the moment).

Pezenas has a big Saturday market so we walked down to the town in the sunshine and bought loads of lovely fresh fruit, veg, fish and meat.  There was a basket stall too so I bought a nice one for 5 euros.  I’ve spent the morning cooking as Derek is out on his bike – he set off with the local cycling club and stayed with them on the way out but came back rather more slowly on his own.  He completed an impressive 52 miles!

We both cycled yesterday afternoon at a leisurely pace – just beyond the town are a network of narrow roads around the Languedoc vineyard estates.  The scenery is beautiful  but I find some of the climbs hard going so it’s a bit stop-start for me.

To finish off the weekend, we thought we’d have a walk along the beach so drove back to Valras Plage.  We thought we might be the only people around in December but there were hundreds of couples and families promenading up and down in the sunshine – the most French people we’ve seen in one place since we arrived!

This week’s food:

There’s lots of fresh fish and seafood to buy but a lot of it looks unfamiliar, even scary so we’ve stuck to buying cabillaud (cod), saumon (salmon) and crevettes (prawns).  As in the UK, it’s quite expensive and the French women all seem to know exactly what they want and buy whole fish and great bags of unknown crustaceans.  I took the plunge at the market yesterday and we’ve tried merlan (whiting) and eperlan (whitebait).  We also tried a ready made fish soup which was yummy.

A local speciality is ‘Petits Pates de Pezenas’ – they look like little pork pies and are sold in bulk in  the supermarkets and also in the boulangeries.  Introduced by Clive of India, they contain lamb, lemon and spices and the pastry crust is sweet!  They were vile and we spat them out – yuck!

We are getting into the French way of having bread with every meal – not good for the waistline but it feels very stylish tucking a baguette under your arm every time you head home for a meal.  Having tried supermarket madeleines with no success, we bought one that looked like a coffee shop muffin from the boulangerie – it was delicious.

The kitchen here is tiny and has a microwave/convection oven/grill which I am learning how to  use.  I have warned Danny that we won’t be having roast turkey on Xmas Day – we’re thinking maybe of doing a turkey paella!  The supermarkets are stacked high with boxes of chocolates but otherwise there doesn’t seem to be any special Christmas food.  They have about a dozen types of Ferrero Rocher – we realised we’d never even tried the basic ones so we bought a box – they didn’t last long!

Thursday 5th December

Plan a ride out of Pezenas. Lots of research online and find a route from the house up into the hills – about 25miles.

It’s warm and sunny but there is a bit of a breeze. I am also concerned that there might be more traffic in this part of France.

Head out of Le Coteau and past Intermarche. Suddenly there are no cars and the road is clear. The route takes me through Tourbes and on to Roujan and then gently climbs to Neffies. Onwards and upwards and hit the first of the hairpin bends but the climb is not steep and just goes on and on. The views are splendid and the climb continues.  There are no dangerous bits and eventually I am at the top.  Photos don’t do it justice but I include one just for the record.

The descent is tricky – fast and furious and I’m not keen on the bends. The wind is also troublesome. However at the bottom I head to Fontes along a very flat straight road and pick up some speed.

The last leg back towards Pezenas is busy – more traffic and narrow roads. Coming into the town itself is a battle and I make a note to avoid this bit in future. I’m back inside 2 hours so all in all a great start.

Barb has had her haircut while I’ve been out and the hairdresser, Sandra, has a cycling husband and we find out more about the local club.  Sunday looks like a long ride with Velo Club Pezenas. Can’t wait!

The last time I was in Valras Plage was Easter 2004 on a rugby tour with Stratford Rugby Club. Danny was 13 and decided on that tour he wanted to go to Warwick School.  The rest is history!

Today it was 19º with a clear blue sky.  We walked the length of the beach in both directions marvelling at the sand, the sky and snow capped mountains in the distance – (look carefully at the photos).

Another al fresco lunch back at the car and then a stopover at Carrefours for Gazole and more food.

Back at the house we have afternoon tea and then head out for another walk. Today’s weather is just too good to miss so we try a walk directly from the Coteau. A right turn out of the gate and we are in the countryside.  More warm sunshine and we stroll along the track towards the nearby village of Tourbes.

Back at the house we have more tea and sit on the patio until the temperature begins to drop. The nights get very cold, -4°, so a huge contrast.

This is the view from our bedroom window

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Quite a change  – we have moved from the countryside to the town and from a big open-plan barn conversion to a compact town house.  It seems quiet and peaceful here though and we wake up to a lovely view  over the rooftops from the bedroom window.  We unpack, meet a few neighbours and stroll down to the town to buy bread and cakes.  It’s quite chilly but sunny and bright with a lovely blue sky so we eat lunch on the patio.  Off for a drive to get our bearings and pick up a few groceries at the supermarket.

Tuesday also seems to be lovely weather so we head for the coast – just a 20 minute drive to Meze.  Pick up a map from Tourist Info and head for the beach – it is a real wow!  Strolling around in the sunshine in December was lovely  – blue sea, blue sky and lots of seafood restaurants.  Had lunch at Cafe du Port – shrimp salads, moules for Derek and tuna for me – sitting outside gazing at all the expensive yachts in the basin.

The header picture for the blog is a panorama of Meze – we’ve been trying to get a photo with us both in but it’s not easy!

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Saturday 30th November – designated pack up day. It was warm, sunny and clear so before lunch we went out on the bikes instead!  Saturday afternoon was spent packing bags and boxes, putting the roof box back on the car, attaching the bike rack to the tow bar and loading the Volvo.  Fortunately the weather was still good so it all went pretty well.  A very different day to when we arrived in torrential rain.

We were up early on Sunday and away before 8 am.  A six and half hour journey ahead and it was still dark.  The peage was only about 10 minutes from La Grange so we were quickly motoring at 130k/h on an empty road and heading south.  One of the great things about driving in France is that you can generally time journeys pretty well so we planned to drive for two and a half hours and then stop for coffee. We could then do two more and stop for lunch and then be in Pezenas for 4 pm.

It all went smoothly with just a few interesting moments. The very first toll booth where we had to take a ticket seemed to think we were a truck and produced a ticket about 6 feet up in the air! Barb had to get out and reach up. Would we be charged as a lorry?  After an hour, an unscheduled stop (for a wee) led us to perhaps the best 5 star service area we’ve ever seen.

Time to pay the toll – a whole series of height restricted lanes. What is going on? Is the roof box confusing the French road system. We edge under a line of dangly things, pay up and head off towards Bordeaux. I check the the roof box is still intact but somehow turn the interior lights on.  In trying to turn them off, Barb accidentally presses the button which opens the roof a bit.  Just as we are dealing with this and navigating the only tricky interchange of the entire journey around the outskirts of Bordeaux, the satnav runs out of battery and dies.  A few dodgy minutes later, we arrive at a rest area for a much needed cup of coffee.

The French army seemed to be out on training manoeuvres – each time we stopped, the motorway services were swamped with soldiers.  At one point Barb was in the shop buying biscuits at the head of a queue of about 30 teenage soldiers all carrying guns.  In order to stay calm, she kept reminding herself of Danny’s  assurance that teenagers find middle aged women really intimidating and  scary.

We arrived at Coteau Moliere, a little gated community of town houses by about 4pm and unloaded the bikes into the garage and ourselves into number 5.  We were welcomed by three cats who all seemed to think they lived with us!

Thursday morning we set off in the sunshine for Coulon, an easy 40 minute drive.  The guide book said Coulon was officially  categorised as one of the most beautiful villages in France – centre of ‘La Venise Verte’ or ‘Green Venice’.  An area the size of The Isle of Wight, the Marais Poitevin was originally marshland, drained and now criss-crossed with canals which get covered with duckweed in the summer and turn bright green.

Coulon was lovely, even in November with all the tourist facilities, restaurants and cafes closed.  The village has lovely old streets with photogenic houses and along the canal, it’s really chocolate box pretty.  We had a walk, sandwich lunch and then a cycle along the canal path.  By the end of the bike ride, we both had cold hands and feet but the sunshine and blue sky were fab.  We’d like to come back in the summer to see the place in full swing.

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