First of all, thanks to all of you who kindly responded to my earlier request about Montpellier. We spent 18 days living in Fabregues and exploring as much as we could in Montpellier, along the coast and into the heartland of Languedoc.
We were exceptionally lucky to rent a house in Fabregues which is southeast of the city. Here is the link to the house - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19217549 . Located 10 min from the Tram, 10 min to all the beaches, 20 min from Sete, Bouzigues and Balaruc les Bains with amazing views of the Oyster beds, 30 min from St. Guilhem le desert and the Gorges. It was an absolutely central location for exploring all of the Languedoc.
The house is attached to the owner’s house but separated by the garage. The location is the definition of bucolic. Located right off the main road, the house is protected by a large hedge and trees. The owner owns 35 hectares of vineyards that surround the house (mostly Cab Sauv, Sauv blanc and grenache). He also rents out small plots of land for community gardens filled with fruit trees, tomatoes, peppers, and berries. They own a small horse who lives on the property too. Luckily, they also had a small outdoor building with a wood fired grill oven which I used regularly. The owners were incredibly friendly and accomodating. We ended up eating with them and watched a World cup game with them another night. The night we arrived, they presented us with 3 bottles of wine from the coop where they sell their grapes. http://www.guidevins.mobi/les-domaines/detail/105848. Not amazing wines but serviceable and only 3 or 4 euros a bottle.
What made this particular area IGP Collines de la Moure (https://www.vigneron-independant.com/appellation-vin/pays-dhérault-collines-de-la-moure) so interesting for wine exploration is that the young winemakers feel freed from the hegemony of the AOC system. We tasted incredibly fresh tasting Muscat Secs, Viogniers, Marsanne, Rousanne, Grenache Gris, as well as refined Grenache/Syrah blends. Even the normally “Meh” Marselans were really refreshing when served chilled. Since this sub region sits right behind the Gardiole mountain that separates it from the Med, the days are very hot in July (close to 95f every day w no humidity but in the high 50s at night). On the other side of the Gardiole is Frontignan and Mireval, home of great sweet muscat wines, and Picpoul de Pinet planted all along the lagoons that separate the barrier beaches from the mainland.
We visited Domaine de Mujolan https://www.domaine-mujolan.com/ which was 1/4 mile from the house. It’s an 11th century abbey turned into a beautiful winery (as are a number of other wineries in the languedoc). Mujolan’s bag in box rose 3l for 15 Euros was a big hit. We also enjoyed Close des nines. http://www.closdesnines.com/ whose reds were superior. Paul Mas https://www.paulmas.com/en/domains/chateau-paul-mas/was just north of the plain. Far more modern than other wineries, the quality was very high albeit a bit sterile.
Food in the Fabregues region was wonderful. It was the height of local tomato and pepper season as well as other veg and fruits. The Apricots were amazing. Since it’s only 15 min from Bouzigues, there are oysters,clams, mussels and fresh fish everywhere. Contrary to one of the comments in my earlier post, Oysters,clams Calamari fish and mussels from the lagoons are available during the summer. The oysters as incredibly salty due to the high salinity of the lagoons but we never had any food poisoning issues and adapted well. Even the local supermarket had AOC oysters taken daily from the lagoons.
We ate out once or twice a week but never spent more than 50 Euros including wine for 2 people at local restaurants. I was so excited to cook so it was a joy to eat at home and sit out at night under the walnut trees with cicadas singing.
Outside of Fabregues, we spent a saturday in Pezenas at the outdoor market. Not an exceptional saturday market imho, but a fun time till the heat hit us. Luckily, I found a craft beer bar,https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g616105-d4766799-Reviews-Le_Vintage_Bar_Tapas-Pezenas_Herault_Occitanie.html where we had salads and fun local craft beers from all over languedoc. After lunch we visited, Prieuré de Saint Jean de Bébian which was empty because France was playing in the World cup. The new building is great and all the wines are solid but way overpriced.
On other days, we went to Bergerie du Capucin (https://bergerieducapucin.fr/) a hot new winery with very tasty estate wines as well as purchased grapes wines. They are just being imported into the US by Cynthia Hurley. We arrived just as 3 buyers from Brittany showed up. They graciously allowed us to join their tasting of the entire line of wines. Definitely one the new wave of winemakers in Languedoc. Their low end Viognier was full of peach overtones and the Dame Jeanne line at 13 euros is a steal.
Since it was so hot, it was difficult to justify spending 25$or more on IGP red wines but we tried to taste across all wines at each stop.
We had a wonderful experiences at Chateau du Lancyre Chateau de Lancyre in Pic Saint Loup | Chateau de Lancyre even though their rose is always at our local costco. Visiting Chateau Peuch Haut was an amazing afternoon . The tour guide spent almost 2.5 hours with us as we toured and tasted all through their wines. The location is spectacular, as our all of their wines. It’s hard to believe that 1 million of their 2 million bottles are high quality rose. They also sell Bag in Box Rose which was incredibly inexpensive. We bought a 3l barrel of rose for 21 euros. Compare that with the single btl price of their rose in the US !.
My daughter is head of marketing at The Meatball Shop in NYC and soon in DC. They created a private blend and private label with Mas du Daumas Gassac who we had to visit. Frankly their low priced wines, all made with purchased grapes, are more fun than their estate wines which cost more than 40 euros at the estate. A little difficult to find even with a gps, but another enjoyable visit.
We were there when the news article about the 10 million bottles of fake rose was published. After shopping at a very large Carrefour, which was the size of 3 Costcos, you learn to read the fine print on the labels. At one of the bigger Carrefours, We discovered that the rose aisle was over 150 ft long with 6 levels of roses and another long aisle with Bag in box Roses. There were many that said packaged in france or product of the EU, but I was surprised at how many of the local wineries were represented in such a large retail environment.
Other places of interest -
1, Sete is worth a morning visit. The indoor market is fantastic with many Bouzigues oysters farmers in attendance as well and lots of local meats, seafoods and cheese. Plus it’s right next to Frontignan for sweet wine tasting.
2, Bouzigues and Balaruc les Bains - Bouzigues is a sleepy small town on the lagoon with many oyster farmer’s buildings along the coast. Many good restaurants in the center of town as well as above. We a great fresh meal at La Palourdiere despite its mediocre reviews. Balaruc was a bit like the Jersey shore. Lots of touristy restaurants and t shirt shops but at the end of the boardwalk sits a very large new building that houses the thermal bathes that is worth seeing.
3, Montpellier - We used to day passes for the tram (@ 5 Euros for all day anywhere). We first took a open tourist bus the first day because it was unbelievably hot and we want to get a good overview of the city. The next day we came back and explored the Fabre museum, The smaller museum across the park with an exhibit about Hitler’s personal photographer that blew us away because of its similarity with our current president’s image making.
4, The Aquarium - We also explored the Aquarium which was great fun, even for older adults. Lots of interactive exhibits and where else but in France would you have recipes next to the tanks where the fish were kept? Right next to the Aquarium is a outdoor mall unfortunately, but it has a tasty brew pub - Les Trois Brasseurs with good craft beer and decent food.
5, Grotte Des Clamouse - On the side of the gorge near St guilhem le desert which is worth a visit too is the grotto of clamouse. Definitely take the tour which takes about 2 hours. You need to be able to walk up and down staircases well, not ADA compliant at all. Such beautiful natural structures and very large rooms of stalactites and stalagmites.
6, Beaches - Since our house was 10 min from the Med, we regularly went to the plages des aresquiers (https://www.google.com/search?q=plage+des+aresquiers&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS701US701&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6qoCAjfLcAhWMd98KHcUfByAQsAR6BAgBEAE&biw=1182&bih=610)
Free parking at most of the beaches. The entire left side is a nude beach and the center part is very rocky, and the far right is sandy w/ a great seafood restaurant - Le Spot right on the beach.
We also drove to a beach near the Camargues called Espigettes. Plage de l'Espiguette Port Camargue (30) Gard Languedoc-Roussillon - Plages.tv. Espigettes is a really long sandy beach with dunes behind the beach with lots of people, concession carts and kite surfers.
7, Cathedrales and Abbeys -
1, Valmagne -http://beta.valmagne.com/ - Vineyard, winery and Cathedrale in the country with a incredible church with huge wine foudres in the main area.
2, The best abbey we visited was Frontfroide- https://www.fontfroide.com/. Located outside of Narbonne and in the Aude, not Herault, It’s a picture perfect abbey in the hills with a luscious set of gardens and a great audio visit. Lots of interesting wineries along the route as well.
3, Maguelone - Located 15 min from the house, Maguelone is on an island surround by vineyards. Maguelone and Maguelone cathedral, France: tourist guide. Right next to the beach , the cathedrale is empty but the views from the church and around the island are magnificent.
All in all ,this was a spectacular trip . We plan on returning next summer for a month to explore more of Languedoc and Montpellier.
An afterthought and complaint - We rented a car through Autoeurope - a Fiat 500 for 3 weeks at $200. I decided to rent a gps from autoeurope since i didn’t want to pay the ATT international charges. I normally use Waze here in the US but I was worried that my iphone might have network issues which it did.
Upon arrival in Montpellier, the gps couldn’t find the maps and my phone kept seeking the weakest roaming network. I asked Europcar who rented the car through autoeurope if we could upgrade to a car that had gps in it. The local Agent, a Scot named Alistair hooked us up with w a brand new Peugeot SUV 3008 with all the technological goodies including parking assist for the same price or so I thought… We absolutely adored driving this car and we drove it hard over lots dirt roads over the trip. The day before leaving, My windshield got hit by a rock and cracked it. When we returned it to the airport, I immediately told the agent about the windshield and we reviewed the car together. I speak fluent french and he kept trying to say to me that there were other issues with the body of the car. Each time he cited a particular flaw, I would run my fingernail through it to show it could be easily removed. He started to mumble that he had to send the car to Marseilles to be cleaned. I replied that that was not my issue and he then directly asked me why hadn’t I washed the car before I returned it. I laughed and told him to find another foreign victim.
Surprise of surprises, When I got my Amex bill there was a bill for the upgrade of over $500 and a $900 charge for the windshield . I immediately called autoeurope and Amex to dispute the bill. Thankfully Amex ruled in my favor this week and closed the case. Europcar never responded. My advice to all is to make sure to use a Credit card that covers insurance and make sure you sign a contract that cites every charge before leaving.
Allez Les Bleus !!!