Not-so-PBV: Mosset-du-Merde

Our weekend in the PO ended with a visit to Plus Beau Village Mosset. We left Thuir, and the Byrrh factory in a happy state thanks to the generous dégustation, signed out of the hotel, and went in search of a sandwich for lunch. There was nothing in Thuir that looked appetising, so we got in the car and hoped to find something along the way.

Thankfully, we did, in an award-winning boulangerie no less, located on a roundabout at Ille-sur-Têt next to an old convent, and called Le Couvent, that was also a chambre d'hote. They had no sandwiches this early in the year, but did have some mini quiches, so we got four and some bread.

The weather was cold and menacing and not ideal for a picnic, but we got to Mosset, found a spot with a view and sat in the car eating our lunch with spots of rain dotting the windscreen. Nothing new there for a Brit, obviously... The quiches were very good and the bread lived up to our expectations.

PBV Mosset - good thing it was winter so the tree was leafless!

Mosset looked okay from a distance, but it didn't look quite so charming close up. Maybe it looks better in the sun, but it just looked a bit miserable and down at heel in the gloomy winter light.

There was also a lot of dog poo about. Tons of it. No one had been clearing it up for some time, so one had to keep one's eyes down in order to avoid a nasty surprise.

Mosset's museum la Tour des Parfums

This probably meant that we couldn't properly appreciate the cultural heritage of the Catalan village, with its 'rich architectural patrimony' (so says the PBV site).

House of no particular interest except for the very low front door. Compare with neighbour's.

It was too cold to hang about and poo-hop, so we called it a day and took to the road. The way back to the main road takes you through a spa village called Les Thermes in the commune of Moltig-les-Bains. It's set dramatically in a gorge with some stunning views. This building is Le Grand Hotel, a three star establishment with rooms starting at 95Eur (quand même!).

Le Grand Hotel

There's nothing to do else for 15km in either direction (of mountain route), so when you go there, I reckon you'd have to be serious about using all the spa facilities! Still, for a few days of peace, it must be lovely.

It was pretty windy on the autoroute. We stopped to use the facilities in one place and I was quite taken with these poor trees:

Wonder which way the wind blows here... Sea on the right.

It was a weekend plein les yeux of beautiful (or so) villages, industrial splendour, and stunning scenery. The PO is a region that is definitely worth visiting.

Weekends Away: les PBV of the Pyrenées Orientales - Eus

Part One - Castelnou

We left Castelnou to check into our hotel in Thuir, the Hotel Cortie**. We had booked it directly the previous day rather than go through Booking.com because the owner had a ruse for by-passing the booking sites. He put that check-in was not before 6pm, and check-out at 10am. Finding this very inconvenient, people ring him up to make sure, whereupon he tells them the real times and asks them to book directly thus saving him a booking fee. Clever.

When we arrived, the restaurant was being cleaned, and frankly it didn't smell that good. My DB wanted to leave straight away, but I warned him that we would be unlikely to find anywhere else, it being Valentine's weekend. All the hotels in the region were booked, those that were open.

We asked to see our room, didn't like it (too small and not nicely decorated), so asked to see another which was fine and didn't smell. The hotel is located in the centre of Thuir on a tiny street, so there's no parking but you can park on the main square of the town nearby. It's a bright yellow building with royal blue trim, so difficult to miss, and is a certified 'hotel de charme'. Our charming room was located over the terrace which was fine except that you could hear every word being spoken down there. It must be pretty noisy in the summer with people eating outside until late.

Hotel Cortes bedroom

After a quick snooze, we decided to visit another local PBV - Eus. The Pyrenées Orientales is spoilt for Plus Beaux Villages, and they are handily located in a small area so are easy to visit in a short space of time, if you so wish, or until you get PBV-fatigue.

PBV Eus - probably looks better on a sunny day in Spring

It wasn't as charming as Castelnou, but it was still delightful to walk around. I was surprised to see that the mimosa was out in full bloom to cast a little brightness on a gloomy day.

Mimosa in February

The town is in a classic defensive position and was used to repel the French in the sixteenth century, and the Spanish in the eighteenth. 

Dinky street in Eus with lovely view even on a cloudy day

The old citadelle was replaced with an imposing church dedicated to Saint-Vincent.

Saint-Vincent Church, Eus

The place was as quiet as the grave, only a few other hardy visitors were braving the chilly weather of late afternoon.

Eus

One house caught our eye. It was decorated on the outside with bits of pottery embedded into the lime (?) finish. It gave the house a distinct air of measles.

House with measles, Eus

We returned to our hotel and had a rest before dinner. When we turned up to eat in the restaurant every table had a rose in plastic for the lady, and we were told that there was a unique menu for Valentine's day, 35Eur. My DB had not expected there to be no choice, and he was rather put out. There was some grumbling, and muttering, and discussion as to whether we'd be able to get anything more reasonable somewhere else, and, I'm happy to say that eventually we decided to stay.

So we got the kir aperitif, and ordered a bottle of red Château de Castelnou (because they make wine at the castle too). The starter was a carpaccio of scallops and prawns which was delicious. Individually, they didn't taste as good as they did together. There was a real symbiosis between the flavours. I then had a confit de canard, and finished up with a dessert that I can't remember for the moment. The wine was good too. My DB perked up in direct proportion to the emptying of the wine bottle, and we ended up having a very nice Valentine's evening.

Weekends Away: les PBV of the Pyrenées Orientales - Castelnou

Last weekend the weather was going to be rubbish all over the country except in the Pyrenées Orientales so guess where we went for our weekend away...

It was still too cold for the motorbike, so we took the car and bombed down the motorway to Perpignan, then left it and took to the back roads in search of a place for lunch. I suggested we find somewhere near Plus Beau Village Castelnou. As it happens, there's the perfect spot for a picnic a couple of miles from the village which gives you a splendid view as you sit on the stone wall munching.

Perfect view from the picnic spot overlooking Castelnou

I had made us a super healthy salad with vinaigrette boosted with turmeric and cayenne, as requested, so together with the view, mind and body were in perfect harmony. :)

We arrived in the village in need of a coffee, and were delighted to find a little honey shop which did coffee just inside the main entrance. There was the most delectable smell of cooking pain d'épice so I bought one on off the shelf and asked the guy to cut off two slices for us to eat straight away. It was the most delicious pain d'épice I've ever tasted. It was difficult resisting the urge to eat the whole lot in one go.

Castelnou

Castelnou, mosaic gallery on the left

The main road up takes you past a mosaic gallery which had some beautiful, original pieces inside. I thought the zig-zag one hanging outside was rather nifty too.

Mosaic from gallery in Castelnou

At the top of the village is a castle which you have to pay to visit. We decided it would be worth a look, and it was. As it was out of season, the restaurant and snack bar were shut, so it was very peaceful. The castle has been restored, including an attempt at recreating a banqueting scene complete with piped music.

Banqueting scene - quite a riot, what?

There were some interesting panels of information on the walls, but on the whole it was not terribly kid-friendly if they're the sort (like mine) who want to have a hands-on experience. Not being kids with an attention span of less than ten seconds, we read the panels that told us about high society in the Middle Ages; food, drink, entertainment, and so on, and what the plebs endured. Elsewhere we read about the history of the castle and the family that owned it.

View of Castelnou roofs from the château

The previous owners of the castle had some right funny names. Just click on this genealogical tree for inspiration for your own family. Thinking I'll suggest Udalgar for the name of my first grandson and see how well it goes down, what do you think? Udder for short?

Lords of the manor family tree

 How about Ermessende for a girl? Funny how these names have fallen out of fashion, innit.

Pomegranate tree

Someone near me has a pomegranate tree and gave me some of the fruit. It was unfortunately so sour it was inedible and I threw it out before I got my brain into On mode and worked out whether I could make a syrup, or use it in cakes. I wonder how sweet the pomegranates are here.

This is a gite, owners on the eccentric side from the look of it, probably British

Imposing entrance to Castelnou

I remember coming to Castelnou in about 1990 when I was living in Perpignan with my then boyfriend (future ex-h). We had decided to have lunch at the Michelin starred restaurant with some friends. They were all interns, and it took them so long to extricate themselves from their departments that by the time we got to the restaurant it was too late and they refused to serve us. I was gutted, but have not held a grudge at all, indeed not...

From what I discovered on Trip Advisor, the restaurant D'Ici et d'Ailleurs is no longer what it was 25 years ago (who is?!).

There was an advert outside the walls for a visit of the Byrrh factory in Thuir. As we were staying in Thuir that night, it got us thinking.

Weekends Away: From Rocamadour to Conques

Part one - in Rocamadour.

After stuffing ourselves with as much hotel breakfast as possible from the copious buffet (croissant, boiled egg, toast and delicious homemade jams including 'nèfle' (medlar), yoghurt, kiwi), we left Rocamadour and headed off towards Plus Beau Village Conques via Figeac.

The hotel owner suggested we take a detour to Lacave and see the castle perched above the river Dordogne, so as we weren't in a hurry, we did. It was worth the detour.

Castle at Lacave, Lot

This place was pretty nifty too. Those towers, also seen in Rocamadour, are obviously the thing in the Lot.

Spied along the road

Then we left Lot, crossed the border into Aveyron, and arrived at PBV Conques where we parked the car, and got out to walk in the lovely winter sunshine, my DB's Fitbit pedometer on orders to start counting steps.

Arriving in Conques

As you can see, it was pretty empty. There was only one restaurant open, the same one where we'd had dinner the last time we were here (the Auberge de St Jacques), not that we wanted to eat yet as we were still stuffed from breakfast! I'm not sure there was single shop open.

We fancied this house which was for sale although the pronounced leaning to the right of the top floor is a little worrying. Still, it's been there since the Middle Ages, so it's probably good for a few hundred more years yet... unlike the rubbish most of us live in today!

The top section of this house leans worryingly to the right

 Conque definitely deserves its PBV status.

Pretty houses which overlook the valley

 And you can really appreciate it with no one about!

Photo opportunities at every turn

Not sure why the banisters are on the outside of this house. Any ideas?

This local resident looked happy to have the place to himself

The abbey (11-12th century, on UNESCO and patrimoine lists) was open so we went in and had a look at its magnificent interior, and I even spotted a monk (there are still five) who smiled at me, so I smiled back. Conques is on the pilgrims' Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle route, and one of the duties of the monks is to welcome them at the hostel attached to the abbey. Some of the windows of the abbey were designed by Pierre Soulages. They have shaded white non-parallel horizontal lines. To be honest, I would never have guessed they'd been created by such a famous artist, so I obviously do not have l'oeil artistique! (Soulages is big in Montpellier where there is a room of his work at the Musée Fabre because he lived and worked there for many years.)

After clocking up nearly ten thousand steps, we left Conques and continued on our way, stopping to take a photo of this stunning house.

How gorgeous is this?

 A bit further on we stopped again to take a picture of this funny looking hut. Or is it an old shed where Monsieur retired to read the paper in peace? H'd have to crawl in though; that door is very low. It says 1852 on the lintel, so it's quite recent really.

What on earth is this?

There are faces in the walls amongst the muddy splats. Any ideas as to why? Maybe they are recycled statue faces. Did the owner of this place merely go overboard with decorating or was there a method behind the madness? Could it be a copy of the mother-in-law's face embedded in the mud?

Can you see the faces in the muddy deposits?

Our stomachs started grumbling around 3pm at Rodez, so we stopped when we saw a boulangerie open and bought a couple of sandwiches. The girl made them on the spot in a very original way. The fillings were all laid out on individual bits of cardboard. She put the filling on a contraption, placed an opened baguette over the top, turned the machine so it went upside down, removed the cardboard, and pressed the other side of the bread down to make the sandwich. I've never seen that before! It ensured that the bread never got soggy by sitting about filled. It tasted okay too.

Once on the autoroute, we made good time, although there was drifting snow being blown onto the road by strong winds, and it didn't look good for drivers coming later. The Plateau de Larzac is definitely a wild and woolly place!

It was quite a trek over to the Lot for the weekend, but it felt like we'd been away for longer, and it recharged our batteries nicely.