26 November 2022 - Béziers

Miles driven today = 116

Total Miles to date = 4,090

I heard a number of vans arriving after we hunkered down in the Portlligat car park last night but I couldn't believe how many were there when I pulled back the blinds this morning.  It was pretty much full of predominantly Spanish weekend van folk, no doubt taking advantage of the suspension of the exorbitant €50 a night they charge motorhomers to stay there during the summer months.  

We weren't the first to leave but we were on our way a fraction after 9, retracing our steps back over the 10 miles of  hairpins to Roses.  We bypassed Figueres and continued north towards the border with the Snowy caps of the Eastern Pyrenees filling our windscreen.

We are still sticking with our philosophy of avoiding toll roads and thus far in the whole 4,000+ miles we have covered to date, we have still only paid the €0.85 we got caught out for when we accidentally found ourselves on a tolled section near Lisbon.

In Spain a lot of roads which were previously tolled are now free, hence our ability to drive up the Mediterranean coast so quickly on the Motorways.  But now that we are back in France things have become a lot more roundabouty again.

We crossed the border at Le Perthus where you have the odd situation of one side of the street being in France and the other in Spain.  There were plenty of shoppers out and about, presumably popping across the road to take advantage of cheaper prices for certain goods in the other country.

We snaked our way along the D900, out of the hills, through Le Boulou and around Perpignan.  As we approached Narbonne we could see the lagoons at the edge of the Med.  The next time we see the Sea will be the English Channel.

Coursan looked a pleasant town as we drove through, and then as we approached Beziers we could see the town's Cathedral looming high on the hill above us.

I picked Beziers for tonight's stopover purely on the basis that it has a highly rated aire very close to our chosen route north.  I'd heard of the place but knew nothing about it until we had parked up and put lunch together.  So we decided to go and explore.

Beziers is actually one of the oldest recorded towns in France and has been dated back to 575BC.  The Romans were here and shipped wine back to Rome from the local vineyards.  It was also the site of a massacre at the hands of the Crusaders in 1209.  But we just found it to be a thoroughly nice place.  We started by strolling along the banks of the River Orb.

This aqueduct was built in 1856 to carry the Midi Canal over the river.

This is what the aqueduct looks like from canal level.  A short distance on from this point the canal drops steeply downhill via a flight of 9 locks.

The Pont Vieux was constructed in the 12th Century.

The bridge with the Cathedral above make a great picture on a sunny day.

Wonderful reflections.

There are 2 handy lifts which take a lot of the leg work out of getting up to the Cathedral.

This is the view from the Cathedral looking north along the Orb.

The Place de la Revolution was very quiet but also very atmospheric.

The Place des Bon Amis has these painted figures on balconies.  In an adjacent corner a couple of people in neighbouring buildings were having a full on conversation from their respective balconies.  It could have been staged but I'd like to think it wasn't and it reminded me of the footage of neighbours chatting and even playing music together during the Covid lockdowns.

Some of the backstreets had an almost Dickensian feel to them.

This is the town hall complete with an impressive Christmas Tree.  Christmas shopping was in full swing.  Lisa bought a leather bag as a present... for herself.

The main central boulevard is the Allees Paul Riquet (named after the man who built the Canal Midi).  At the northern end stands the Municipal Theatre.

The Allees is also currently home to a fabulous Christmas Market.  Having been away from home since the beginning of September it feels weird that we are less than a month away from the festive season and houses will already be lit up with decorations when we get home.

Naturally we had to make a stop for a couple of cups of gluhwein!

Copious amounts of fake snow had been sprayed about which, to be fair, did look really effective in the sunshine.

We made our way back to the van via the Plateau des Poetes landscaped Gardens, where the autumnal colours were in full effect.

So rather than just being a convenient layover, Beziers has turned out to be an absolute gem.  They are obviously spending a lot of money on tarting the place up but I feel we have only scratched the surface and I would love to return at some point when we are on slightly less of a time budget.  There's a Prison Museum opening next door to the Cathedral next Spring which holds a certain macabre fascination.

 

27 November 2022 - Issoire & a day on the A75