Welcome to The South of France

Many years ago (2015), if anyone has been following me that long, you might remember I spent a quiet response on the Canal du Midi outside the village of Capstang, and toured the Medieval old town in Carcassonne. I even had a chance to spend a day dipping my toes in the Med! But I didn’t really get to know the South of France.

One cold, wet day in Northern Ireland, while wandering around the web, I stumbled upon a the village of Lagrasse. Their website description says it is….“Located in the heart of the harsh and rugged Corbières, Lagrasse lies in an amphitheater where the Orbieu flows, a river whose clear waters further enhance the mineral beauty of the site. This medieval city was the cultural capital of the Corbières. Famous for its abbey, the largest in the Aude, and its village, classified among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, it now has nearly 600 inhabitants.” Wow, a wonderful place to just sit back, read, walk, and relax. And where to stay….?

That’s when I found The Opale, which is owned, operated, and completely restored from a 13th-century weaving and dye mill by Americans Laura Wedeen and Matthew Frey. When vacationing here in 2001, they found this small, peaceful village, immediately fell in love, and bought their home. Years passed, and when the opportunity arose for them to purchase and restore this location, they jumped at the opportunity.

The before and after photos are quite amazing. Their plan is for The Opale to become a ‘shared residence for seniors‘, a rather new idea here in France. But until the apartments are filled with full-time residents, they are available to rent. Therefore, it was my luck to find the little studio available for 6 weeks for my personal R&R.

The Abbey Sainte-Marie is Lagrasse’s biggest draw, plus the inordinate number of outstanding restaurants that line Le Promenade in regard to this village’s small population. And I must mention the delicious wines and beers whose vines are grown and beers that are brewed in this area of Aude.

I have been granted a private tour of the Abbey by their English-speaking monk, Father Gabriel. I will have lots more information and pictures to share once that occurs, in my next post.

I have found wandering the winding streets an amateur photographer’s delight! To me, it seems to be a beautiful, quintessential, Medieval French village that has retained its charm since the time of Charlemagne.

Residents and visitors alike enjoy long lunches under blue skies on the tree-lined Promenade. On days that have reached over 100º several times this summer already, the favorite pastime for everyone is to head to the beach and jump into the cooling waters of the Orbieu River that flows through the middle of town.

What you don’t expect when vacationing in such an idyllic location is to suddenly be in the very middle of the largest wildfire in France’s history since 1949! And all of a sudden, here I was!

It’s 4:00 p.m., and Maria-Baptist, who is a lovely French woman in the apartment above mine, starts yelling to come up to her patio to see what she sees! The photos are in progression of what we saw on August 5th at 4:40 pm until early morning August 6th.

We are all so very grateful for the tireless work of the 1000’s of firefighters, helicopter and airplane pilots who worked endlessly day and night to keep the fire from cresting the mountain and coming down our side. On Google, you can search and find numerous articles about the number of hectares that were burnt, the people who were injured and lost, and the houses and businesses that were destroyed.

And we went from flames to unbearable heat! I am going to take a wee break and get back to writing after I find someplace with AC and after the weather breaks, which looks to be 10 days from now!

Until later…..