Sara and Robyn say “Bonjour”

June 21: Minerve

A P.S. from yesterdays comment from Dina…..firstly temperatures are around 25-27 deg, and re applying the Karcher gurney to the castle, it seems they thought of this before you did, Dina. Look at their precision gurneying effort.

The day started with craftwork in the kitchen with Eva and Tahlia. It’s been a long time since I cut out a paper cup ……

Why are they wearing goggles, I hear you ask? Because they are going swimming today in a lake.

Today’s adventure was to Minerve, about 45 minutes drive from Aragon. We passed through many little villages to get there….speed limit 30 kph, roads so narrow that their width could only accommodate one car….thank goodness we didn’t encounter any trucks. There were also many vineyards. Minerve is the namesake of the Minervois wine region.

The scenery entering Minerve is quite dramatic….huge limestone mountains on either side of a gorge.

Minerve is described as one of the most beautiful villages of France. The village is above the gorge carved by the River Cesse before it disappears underground into a natural tunnel ( more on this later).

The fortified medieval village, with many of the fortifications still in place, is perched on a rocky peninsula high above a canyon in the barren Languedoc landscape.

The most infamous event to take place in Minerve was in the early 13th century. In 1210 a group of cathars escaped from Beziers,  that was under attack in the Albigensian crusade, and found refuge in this heavily fortified village. It took the brutal Simon de Montfort six weeks of siege, but eventually the village gave in after a catapult bombardment destroyed the only well in the village (the Puits Saint-Rustique). Following the surrender of the town 140 cathars were burned at the stake. Below is picture of the catapult.

The entrance to Minerve is next to the remains of the castle that once stood there. The castle dates back to the 13th century but today, all that remains is a tall octagonal column.

By the time we walked across the bridge into town (this street was actually built inside the old castle), we were hungry….

After lunch we had enough energy to walk down to the riverbed, and walk along the gorge until we reached this amazing natural tunnel which was dug by the Cesse River into the limestone.

The church in the village was built in the 10th century, and you can still see the ramparts which surrounded it.

The village has lovely cobbled streets.

And we found some interesting brick panels on some of the houses.

All in all, it was a lovely day.

Dinner tonight was duck a l’orange with salad and mashed potatoes. Sammy, you asked who was cooking all this lovely food…..well, here are the cooks