I should have known better than to think I would have nothing more to do in Sète than relax, catch a few movies and do some journaling. Christine has always managed to find interesting excursions for our times together in France, our trip to the Baie de Somme, for example. With the exception of a day 2 spent waiting for telecom workers to install internet fiber, each day was packed with interesting excursions. I’d planned to roll all four days into one post, but found I needed to break things up. What follows are reports our road excursions on Day 1 and 3. I’m sure most of us have experienced the joy of waiting for telecom service, so no need to report on day 2.
Day 1: Road trip to Minerve
Christine proposed a trip to Minerve, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France that sits on the edge of a deep ravine formed at the confluence of the Cesse and Brian Rives in the Héuralt department. In addition to its stunning setting, fascinating history and designation as one of France’s Plus Beaux Villages, Minerve also happens to be the site of Le Relais Chantovent, where fellow CBers Ann and Steve Maher-Weary recently enjoyed a fabulous meal. Christine already another restaurant in mind for lunch, one of her favorites, but on finding it fully booked we secured a 1 pm reservation at Le Relais Chantovent.
Before leaving Sète, we made two morning trips to the market – the first was a planned trip to pick up some provisions and fish for tomorrow’s lunch. We found some nice red tuna, but forgot to buy the requisite aioli. We made a hasty trip back to the market, also stopping for Christine’s favorite brioche on the way home. It was just past noon by the time we got in the car, barely enough time for the one hour trip to Minerve and our 1 pm reservation. To Christine’s surprise, however, the car navigation system said it was a 1.5 hour trip and, we soon learned, the restaurant stopped serving at 1:30. Oops - I guess Le Relais Chantovent will have to wait.
After much discussion, we decided to stop in Béziers for lunch – there were lots of restaurants and Christine was almost sure she could locate the place where she’d once had a fabulous meal, a place whose name she’d forgotten. She navigated us to what she was sure was the right place, but it was closed. Our search for a suitable alternative eventually took us raucous restaurant with shared tables where we each ordered a rack of BBQ ribs – not exactly the refined three-course French lunch I’d expected, but it was tasty, fun and way too much food. Stuffed, we were glad for the long walk back to the car for the remaining miles to Minerve.
Red tuna from the best fish monger in the Sète covered market
A rack of ribs for one - the fork is include to indicate the size of a single portion. Unappreciated in the photo is a mound of french fries buried under the ribs. We took home doggie bags and I ate ribs for the next two nights
Minerve was once a well-fortified refuge for Cathars, followers of a Christian movement that arose in the Languedoc region of Southern France in the 11th century. Cathars, also known as Albigensians, were declared heretics by the Catholic Church, who launched the Albigensian Crusade to eliminate the heretics from Languedoc. In June of 1210, Crusaders led by Simon de Montfort laid siege to Minerve and, with the aid of a trebuchet, or catapult, destroyed the fortified wall and town well. After six weeks, the village surrendered and unrepentant Cathars were burned at the stake, 140 people in all.
No cars are allowed in the village of Minerve, so we parked along the road and walked across the bridge into town, winding our way down cobbled streets to the remains of the ramparts. Across the ravine, a single trebuchet rose high above the Brian River, and I could imagine the long projectiles hurled across the ravine during the six week siege. Before leaving town, we stopped by a small gift shop that housed a quaint museum depicting the history of the area and the Albigensian Crusades – yet another reminder of atrocities committed to exert religious conformity.
Minerve sits perched atop a rocky outcrop at the confluence of the Cesse and Brian Rivers
The site of the Siege of Minerve, with the village defending itself against the aerial onslaught by Crusaders encamped on the opposite side of the ravine
A lone trebuchet sits atop the opposite bank of the Brian River. During the pummeling the fortified walls and structures, the town well was destroyed. Villagers were forced to make the treacherous trip down to the river for water, where they were easy targets for the Crusaders perched on high.
Day 3. Grotte de Clamouse and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
Today’s excursion took us to the foot of the Séranne, a small karstic limestone massif at the southern edge of the Massif Centrale. Our destination was the Grotte de Clamouse, an extensive cave system upstream of the Pont du Diable, on the right bank of the Les Gorges de l’Hérault. Over time, three levels in the cave were formed as the level of the Hérault River lowered, with the upper two having large open galleries that display a variety of mineral concretions. In addition to the classic stalactites and stalagmites, there are aragonite crystals, drapes, fistulas and eccentrics. We took a one-hour guided walking tour through the upper levels of the cave during which time I took a lot of pictures and endeavored not to slip on the damp walkways/stairs. I share a few of the pictures below - there are no explanatory captions as I did not pay enough attention to our guide’s narrative, which was all in French.
The Pont du Diablo, one of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
After our cave tour, we followed the Héraut River upstream for two miles along a portion of Chemin de Saint Jacques to the medieval village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. A cursory exploration of the Abbey of Gellone was followed by relaxing under a massive 165 year-old plane tree, enjoying a beverage and people watching. Located near the rock walls of the Cirque de l’Infernet in the the narrow reaches of the Gellone River, the village is a great draw for rock climbers, hikers, kayakers, pilgrims and general tourists. We saw plenty of each, and even spotted a few cycle tourists. I found both the village and the area quite interesting, and a future tour through the region is a definite possibility.
Following the Chemin de Saint-Jacques, our path along the Hérault Gorge to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert started out on the roadway bordering the river
We'd picked up lunch sandwiches before we left Sète, and Christine was too hungry to wait for a suitable picnic spot before digging in to hers. We did find a nice spot a short ways up the road where we sat and watched future rock climbers hone their skills at rappelling
Arcade in the Cloisters of the Gellone Abbey. During the French Revolution, part of the cloister was dismantled, sold and exported to the United States. Some of it was recovered and now resides in The Cloisters, a museum in New York City
