L’abbaye de Valmagne

Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan, the Islamic sacred month of fasting. During Ramadan, the faithful take no food or drink during the daylight hours. We live near the Maghreb quarter, where there are many immigrants from France’s former colonies in North Africa, and we’ve noticed that the cafés have been rather empty this month. Today, however, we see the sidewalk tables are occupied again, mostly with men sitting, talking over tiny cups of coffee, and smoking (smoking, smoking, smoking, like in every café all over France!).

It’s been hot, and the days long – especially for those who are fasting! The streets have not been exactly deserted, but they are certainly livelier today,

Meanwhile, we’ve been keeping ourselves occupied. Yesterday we were particularly busy, with lunch in a nice restaurant in a pleasant sea-side village, and dinner in another, quite different, sea-side village.

One of our goals during our stay in Montpellier was to connect up with locals. How does one do that? I don’t know. But Paula, the resolute researcher, found a couple of ways. One was through the French-English school, which hosts a tea every Wednesday afternoon to bring together French speakers with (wait for it!) English speakers. We found there was much for us to learn from this group, things about Montpellier, how to get things done, in addition to multi-lingual conversation. (And, as an extra added bonus, we are in high demand because while there are many Brits in the area, it’s hard to find a native speaker of American English. Score!)

Then, on Wednesday evenings, we’d head on over to Le Dome, a bar a few blocks away (it puts in an appearance in the June 21^st “La Fete de la Musique” video, with the crazy piano).  Here it’s buy your own drink and converse in French, or English, or German, or all three (as some do!). And get questions answered about the city, the area, and how to get things done.

And now that we’ve gotten to know some locals, we’re getting invited out. Yesterday we went exploring with Bernard and Claude, a couple of fellows we met at the Language center. Well, it was an exploration for us; they’d been here before.

Paula and Claude plan their visit

“Here” was the Abbaye de Valmagne, a 12^th Century abbey about a 45-minute drive away. The grounds were beautiful, but we learned that what saved the abbey were the huge barrels of Russian oak in the church.

Steps worn from centuries of use

It seems that many older buildings that become abandoned and fall into ruin over the years end up having the stones of which they are built “repurposed”: the old building is used as a quarry to provide material for new buildings. Indeed, many old buildings ended up this way. But after this abbey was abandoned, it was used for winemaking. The vineyards that had been long tended by the monks were updated and improved, and new wine presses (“new”: this was in the 19^th century) installed. The side altars in the church were removed, and the space used for wine aging tanks. (As Paula says, “That’s MY kinda church!”)

Massive aging barrels of Russian Oak

"I'll come here for services all the time!"

We explored the cloister, and the garden. I thought about the sign that said the monks took a vow of silence; they were allowed one hour of conversation on feast days. Oh my. It was quite beautiful.

Quiet cloisters...

... looking on to the gardens

Decorative carved vase from ??th century...

A refreshing fountain in the garden

Stunning stone work over the fountain gazebo

After the usual wine tasting, and our purchase of a few bottles, we headed to the beach, or more properly, the sea-side town of Mèze, another 15 minutes away. It was a fine little town, although we’ve gotten used to seeing so many ancient stone buildings that if it’s not from at least the 16^th Century it hardly seems worthwhile. But we found a nice restaurant, and the four of us had a fine sea food lunch.

No town in France is complete without a fountain: Meze, near Montpellier

The Pirate keeps an eye on the waterfront

The unassuming port of Meze

But the beach is nice!

This day, though, our dance card really was full. Silvie, whom we’d met at Le Dome café, had invited us to dinner at another sea-side town, Palavas-les-Flotts. She and her friend Kathie met us in her car not far from our apartment, and we drove the 20 minutes to the beach.

Karen, Paula, & Silvie in Palavas-Les-Flots

The Canal du Midi ends here in Palavas

This is one of several towns built along the extensive sand spit that separates the Mediterranean from numerous étangs, or lagoons, along the low and flat coast. And this part of the coast, no doubt in part due to the proximity of the big city of Montpellier, is very built up. We walked along a straight beach for about a mile and a half, the ocean on one side and continuous condos on the other. These are mostly vacation homes and rentals, fully populated this time of year, although there are some permanent residents.

The downtown area was quite touristy, the roads lined with restaurants and tee shirt shops. There is a short aerial tramway to carry paying passengers across the narrow mouth of the canal; we elected to walk up to the bridge. It wasn’t stunning, or marvelous, but it was a classic sea side town in full summer mode, with tourists (including the four of us!) strolling about and stopping to look and buy.

Walk around, or take the high road over the canal!

We found a sea food restaurant and had a good meal. The food was good, and so was the price, although I’d rather not drink wine from a plastic cup, or eat with plastic utensils (or pay extra for bread, very rare here!) But the food WAS good, and we had a satisfying time strolling about in the very warm evening as the sky slowly darkened.

Looking up the canal

All in all it was a busy and satisfying day.

Long walk back to the car in the sunset, past empty beaches and full condos