Tuesday 19th
July 2016
Agde, Mèze,
Bouzigues and Sète
Today’s
plan was to visit the above places, but it did not quite work out that
way. It was all plain sailing until we
neared Cap d’Agde – we were going to go from there all the way along the long
sea front to marvel at the ziggurats, the number of tourists on the beaches and
remind ourselves why it is just ‘not for us’!
However, the traffic ground to almost a halt, so we turned off to head around
the other side of the Bassin de Thau to visit Mèze, then Bouzigues and finally Sète. In case we do come down this far on a boat we
wanted to check out mooring at all three places. We wriggled our way around the one way system
in Mèze, but found that the main car parking area by the port was shut today,
so we gave up and went to Bouzigues. Mèze
is an attractive place, so we may try again another year.
We
had much better luck in Bouzigues and found this nice easy parking space very
close to the port. Well it was easy for
me, Chris’s only way out was to negotiate the steering wheel and gear stick and
then clamber over the passenger seat and the reverse to get back in!
We
visited Bouzigues in 2000 with Sue and Ken from nb Cleddau and
remembered liking it and even having a paddle in the Bassin du Thau (famous for
its oysters and mussels). This time it
was the port we were interested in and what a delightful place it is. There are plenty of boats to admire - more of that wonderful sound of the wind rippling through the rigging.
And
round behind them is the visitor moorings – there are even electric points and
water if required.
Right
behind these boats is a platform giving easy access to the sea if you fancy a
dip. There is even a shower to rinse off
the salt water. We would certainly never
get a mooring like this in the UK!
The
views from the mooring would also be pretty special when you are used to life on canals and rivers
And
if swimming is not enough entertainment there is plenty to look at
Children
having fun in small sailing boats – closely supervised of course. Behind them you can see the oyster and
mussels beds – they go on for miles.
Surf
boarders – again they seemed to be under instruction. We were only there for a short time, so I am
sure there is a lot more to see. The
boat coming in from the right is a trip boat which might make a pleasant trip
one day in the future if we don't do the full boat trip ourselves.
As
it turned out we should have stayed in Bouzigues, but we had come with the
intention of having a seafood lunch in Sète.
Again this is a place we have been to before and have enjoyed some great
food in the past. This time we were not
so lucky and came away deciding that we will probably not bother going back
again in the future. We had such fond
memories of it as a place to wander, sit by the water, enjoy a good meal and
watch the boats moving along the many canals.
The canals were still there
So
were the boats although many of them seemed a lot larger than on our last visit
The
restaurants were also still there
So
what was the problem? The traffic – it
was horrific (the above photo was taken in a rare moment of calm!) and as we failed to find anywhere to park above ground we headed
down to an underground multi storey car park. For
some reason once we entered we sat still in a snail’s pace queue as cars tried
to manoeuvre in and out of very tight parking spaces. We even saw one lady give up and decide to
use a disabled space and even though that was bigger she managed to reverse
into a post with a resounding thud! It
took us about 25 minutes to park in a space that was no more than 200 yards from
the entrance! Worse still they charge by
the 15 minutes. We only stopped to have
a very quick wander and to have lunch – the cost to park was 5€60!!
I
rather think we made a bad choice of restaurant as well – we were on the other
side of the canal from the pictures with no water side seating, so we were
almost inside, the traffic was noisy and I made a poor choice of food. Chris fared better, but we have both said if
we want a ‘seaside seafood meal’ in the future we would go to Bouzigues or
Gruissan, both of which are closer than Sète.
20-22 July
2016
The final few days – this and that
Well,
all good things must come to an end and we deliberately left these last few
days fairly free to relax and potter about before the long drive home as well
as to think about the most depressing of chores – cleaning and packing! One thing left to do was something that is a
‘must do’ when visiting Bize and that is a visit to the Olive Cooperative just
outside the village. Olives are a very
important part of the agriculture of this area as well as the vines. A little further west and sunflowers
predominate. East there is a more rice and vines, of course, are everywhere!
You
can go and walk around the olive trees
And
see the olives growing – in June they are still quite small
There
are rather lovely benches to rest and relax for a while in these tranquil
surroundings
Along
with quite a lot of boards with a lot of useful information. Neither of us realised what is involved in
producing the olives we buy in the supermarkets. Now we know.
And
then you go inside. There are olives to try - we favour the Lucques which are
the ones grown in this area.
Just
feast your eyes on a selection of what they have to offer – it is almost visual
overload!
Just
the odd bottle of olive oil!
You
can try before you decide what to buy.
Hiding
on one shelf are tins of gésiers (gizzards!!) which Chris was brave enough to
try one year, but strangely enough he has never ordered a gézier salad again!!
There are also all sorts of fancy bowls, tablecloths and other local products
Then
you go upstairs
Where
there are more things to tempt you to part with your money
I
really liked this, but it is the wrong colour for our house, so the credit card
stayed safely in Chris’s pocket. There
was no price on it and they do say ‘if you have to ask the price you can’t
afford it’ and judging by the prices in general, they are probably right!
So
did we buy anything – well yes of course we got some olives! We then returned to Bize to find some lunch.
The
little café just across the road from our front door offers a tray of food at lunch
times. You get two entrées, a plat and
two desserts. As we did last time in 2011we ate there on the Thursday and Friday lunchtime. This was Thursday’s offering
Jambon
et oeuf, couscous with salady bits, chicken curry (in the black pot) and rice
with goat’s cheese on toast and crème brulée to finish off. It was all very tasty.
We
woke on our last day here to thunder and heavy rain which continued on and off
all morning, however as it is the first persistent rain we have suffered since
the journey down five weeks ago we are not complaining. I guess if you are going in the water rain is
not a problem!
What
we should have done was release the sides of the sail cloth awning on the
terrace! Still no damage was done and we
moved the table and chairs before we let the water out.
We
have always noted the big drains they have round here and now we know why they
are that big – when it rains it really rains!
We
had nothing planned for the morning apart from the rest of the packing, a trip
to the hypermarket and to load the car with most of the stuff. Once that was all done we made the very long
and arduous journey from our house (the blue door beyond the flower tub on the
right) to the Café du Midi for another of their ‘tray lunches’.
Today’s feast was goats’ cheese in a choux bun, an egg mayonnaise salad, pork and chips (they were truly excellent fries), a chocolate fondant and fruit salad with an expresso to end the meal – all for 12.50€. A pretty good deal in our opinion and no cooking for us tonight. Mind you in the five weeks we have been here we have only had the oven on three times – each time to cook 2 chicken breasts which we used in salads (half a breast each, so 12 servings) and I had cooked one tortilla and one omelette. We have lived very well on a large variety of salads. The emergency packet of pasta and jar of sauce is going home with us!
The
sun came out whilst we were having lunch and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon. There was some cleaning and food preparation
left to do, but that as the say was it!
All over bar the journey - something we are not looking forward to!
So
would we come again? Well yes we have
to. The timings of the entire trip were
based both Bastille Day and the Fête d’Olivier (Olive Festival) that takes
place in Bize Minervois every year. We
thought it was always on the Sunday after Bastille Day, but sadly for us this
year it was on Sunday 24th July – the day after we left!! All we
saw of the 2016 event was preparation – cars had been moved from the promenade
as that is where most of the action takes place.
A
stage had been erected
A
generator appeared on the dry river bed.
And
the Café du Midi were preparing for a big group of Fête organisers in for
dinner that (Friday) evening. We think
there was another leg going to be added after we left at lunchtime.
The final installment will cover what we missed - The Fête
d’Olivier and the journey home.
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