VISITING "ABBEY ROAD"

In the Languedoc region there are many abbeys. Too many to possibly visit. However, we managed to seek out the properties that were very close to our town.

L'ABBAYE DE GELLONE

Guilhem, Count of Toulouse and grandson of Charles Martel , was one of the great paladins of his cousin Charlemagne. Guilhem's abbey is somber and beautiful. It has been stripped of much of its original decoration; it was sacked by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion, and its cloister was sold to the Rockefeller's who opened the Cloisters Museum , an extension of the Metropolitan Museum , in New York City in the early 20th century.

 

ABBAYE DE VALMAGNE

Medieval gardens and flowery fountain-clad cloister, this was one of southern France's richest abbeys from the 12th-15th centuries. It was founded in 1139 (when monks planted its extensive vineyards), and in 1257 its 6th - century Romanesque chapel was transformed into a classical Gothic church, inspired by northern France's great cathedrals. The abbey housed the Cistercian monks. Since 1789, when the last monks fled, the abbey has been used purely to make wine - of course we tasted it, and purchased some!

 

ABBAYE DE FONTCAUDE

In the valley of Fontcaude, there is a sacred source of water, which was the reason for the Canons to establish themselves in 1154. Romanesque, the abbey church, its cloister, and the 12th century bell foundry are worth a visit. The abbey was an important stop on the pilgrim's route of Santiago de Compostela. The Church, built in the last years of the 12th century and is the last Romanesque work in Languedoc.

 

ABBAYE DE FONTFROIDE

Isolated amid the wooded hills, Fontfroide was the most powerful Cistercian monastery in the south. It was founded by the Viscount of Narbonne in 1093 and adopted Cistercian rule after being visited by St Bernard in 1145. The monks were involved in many "political pies", and the abbots acted on the international stage.One of the abbots, Jacques Fournier was elected pope Benedice XII in Avignon in 1317. At the abbey's peak, its surrounding farms supported 300 monks. In 1348. the Black Death killed all but 20 monks. It recovered and in 1791 it knew a brief revival from 1858-1908.

The courtyards worthy of palaces, the large vaulted refectory, and the elegant late 12th-century cloister with its beautiful lace work of arches set in arches.The collages of older stained glass collected from churches in northern France after the First World War decorate the dormitories.

 

ABBAYE ST MICHEL DE GRANDMONT

This Abbey was located in the most beautiful setting in all of the Herault area. Pic Saint Loup - it is like entering another country. In the villages, the cliff edges of the "Loup" overlook the typical Mediterranean scrubland known as the 'garrigue", the vistas are magnificant.

 

The 12th entury priory is one of the best preserved of the 160 Grandmontine monasteries, a religious order founded by Etienne of Thiers. 1500 hermits occupied the 160 monasteries. Two monks remained until their deaths in 1785. It was the most strict and austere orders of the Middle Ages. No hierarchy,no archives, and no heating. They walked in their bare feet, worked and lived in perpetual silence, ate no meat, fasted regularly, and observed silent prayers. They were the first order to beg for food.

On the grounds were the prehistoric dolmens. They date from 2000BC. They are grouped in a mysterious way with other ritual megaliths and visigothic sarcophaguses.

 

ABBAYE OF SAINT HILAIRE

The first time the abbey is mentioned in writing was in 825, when as traditions have it, the body of St. Hilaire was buried here. The relics of St. Hilaire were transferred in presence of the count of Carcassonne and his wife in the year 970 when Benedict was abbot. Until the end of the 13th century the abbey was protected by the counts of Carcassonne. Tradition has it that in 1531 the monks of the abbey first made "Blanquette".

The sarcophagus of Saint Sernin may have once been an altar-piece. The sculptures in the marble illustrate the life of the saint who lived in Toulouse. The work is attributed to the Master of Cabestany. He is an anonymous sculptor who owes his name to the village in the Pyrenees Orientales.

 

THE CATHEDRAL OF MAGUELONE

It is located in an area of protected coastline with a broad variety of birds. The Cathedral is at the heart of an island of greenery, in a park, surrounded by vines, between sea and pond.

Roman style, of great purity, the Cathedral was the seat of the diocese for a thousand years from the 6th to the 16th century. The Maguelone was once a port in the Roman Empire. Charles Martel and the Saracens fought here, the clergy and bishop had to leave the place and return in the 11th century. In the 12th century, Maguelone was a land of welcome several times for popes.

The peacocks in the garden were brilliant, including several white peacocks.

 

LEAVING NORMANDY - NINE HOUR DRIVE TO SOUTHWEST FRANCE

PEZENAS (LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON REGION)

 

We chose for our next home, Pezenas, a Medieval town in the 13th century. the crossroads where paths from the east to the west, from the Rhone river to the Pyrenees and the Garonne river, in the heart of the Herault valley. The colony was first created as a wool trade industry. Pezenas owes its first fortune to the Capetians, who annexed it to the royal estate. Saint-Louis purchased the town in 1262, and ten years later the King granted it its first trade fair. Pezenas was renowned for its fairs until the beginning of the 19th century. The market that was established on November 28, 1484 , and a zone of trading influence that stretches to 30 of the surrounding villages.

The most famous citizen of Pezenas, was Jean-Baptiste Poquelin - who renamed himself , Moliere (1622-1673). He lived here from 1650-1656. Moliere was born to a prospereous family. He disowned his heritage and followed his illustrious calling to the theatre. Moliere not only wrote his plays , 81 in all, but he also acted in them. "Tartuffe, "The Misanthrope", and "The School For Wives" are three of his most famous. In 1673, while he was acting in "The Imaginary Invalid" and suffering from tuberculosis, he collapsed, with a heavy coughing fit, and hemorraged his brain. He died a few hours later.

 

Our apartment in Pezenas was in the oldest section of town. It had a famous "historic staircase" when one entered the courtyard. The Baluster's were very prominent. The iron work handmade by the locksmiths. They appeared in Pezenas at the end of the 17th century. Mullioned window, composed of a vertical stone separating the window in two parts, were common during the 17th century. The stairs are the most famous in all of France. The most ancient stairs 15th century are made of flights of stairs located in the inner courtyard. Bosses were rag-stones whose outside facing is protruding. They are commonly seen around doorways. Cul - de- lampe are fantastical figures, grotesque or lassical , ornamenting a capital, a key - stone or a clasp. They appeared in the 18th century, around the windows. Cross-ribbed vault were in the ceilings reinforced by diagonal ribs, the function of which is to strengthen the groined vault. Machicolations are corbelling out part placed at the top end of a wall or a tower, formed of brackets or consoles supporting small arcatures. This opening was used to throw all kinds of projectiles at the enemies.

The street where we lived

Historic staircase leading to my apartment

The doors of Pezenas are from the 12th-13th century. There is even a museum devoted to them.

 

 

 

Musee de Vuilliod-Saint-Germain. The mansion in which the museum was created in 1942 was a legacy from the Saint-Germain noble family. It was build during the 16th century, and restored in the 19th century. Aubusson tapestries , furniture from the 16th,17th and 18th centures are offered to the view. The local souvenirs of Moliere's stays in the city are also displayed.

 

 

The Collegiate Church Saint-Jean was built by J.B.Franque in 1740. Beautiful Toscan nave, an organ case by J.F.Lepine, boren in Pezenas (1732-1817).

There were firewords and music in the streets of Pezenas outside my window quite frequently. Very festive!!

The weekly Saturday market in Pezenas

 

WINE TASTING IN THE AREA

The soul of the region, around which an entire trip can easily be build, winemaking in Languedoc-Roussillon is enjoying a renaissance. Following violent protests over Italian imports in the mid-1970's, farmers were subsidised to cut down their vines and replant with better-quality AOC grapes, hence Languedoc's splendid wine production today.

Of increasing interest are the thoroughly modern table wines made under the Vin de Pays d'Oc. Free of AOC restriction these wines experiment with new grape blends. Fabulous results: creative, exciting, affordable wines with funky names and designer etiquettes to reflect contemporary tastes. In 1978 the viticulturist, Sacha Lichine, kickstarted the revolution and proved to the wine world that a non-AOC red could give an AOC Bordeaux a run for its money. He blends grapes from the are to make his "chicken wines". Le Coq Rouge (The Red Rooster); La Poule Blanche (The White Chicken); Grenache and Carignan grapes for the Le Poussin Rose (The Pink Chick).

Languedoc sensations in the US market include Red Bicyclette and Fat Bastard. An anti wine snob, Thierry Boudinaud said to his US partner, upon tasting the wine said "now that is what you call a fat bastard" - hence the name.

A lot of vinyards in the area are very small, and they pool their harvest and form co operatives. We tasted the wines in these co operatives.

 

Blanquette de Limoux

In 1531 the monks of the Abbaye de St-Hilaire first put the bubbles into the local white wine, pressed from mauzac grapes. To this day, blanquette methode ancestrale uses exclusively this same mauzac grape, which because of fine white down on its leaves, led to the name blanquette. Sweeter, and low in alcohol, ususes a jmjority of mauzac grapes, blended in different proportions with chenin, originally from the Loire region, and chardonnay, the classic white grape of Burgundy. They claim that when Dom Perignon was on a tour of the area he stole their recipe for methode champanoise.