BEFORE AND AFTER: FIRST THE PLAN, THEN THE EXECUTION
I thought that it might be a good idea to try something a bit different. Normally, I report on events after they happen, trying to explain how our expectations differed from reality. Such entries, it seems to me, must needs be colored by a desire not to look completely foolish. We hide our foolishness even from ourselves, don’t we? How about this? We’re planning a two week visit to Cazouls in a late October. Herein find our plans. When we return, I’ll report on their execution.
As our Frenchman friend Francis (pronounced frahn-CEASE for the uninitiated) told us early on, “When you purchase property in the south of France, make certain that you have plenty of room for company.” We followed his advice. Cathey and I sleep on the double bed in an alcove behind the great room. There are two sofa beds in the great room itself. We purchased a double futon for my little office across the hall. And we have three single beds upstairs above the office. During this trip, our linen closet will be heavily taxed.
Sharon, Liz and Marianne will be flying over on the same flight with us. I’ve already reserved a Renault Megane Scenic (“or comparable vehicle”) from Sixt. It should hold the five of us plus our luggage, though it will be a tight fit. Because we have a washer and dryer, we don’t have to bring over copious amounts of clothing. But we will be bringing extra pillows and a coverlet; Aunt Barbara’s oriental fans, a few wide-brimmed hats, some collector plates, and Sharon’s ceramic masks (if she can find them) for wall decorations; three dozen jazz, classical, zydeco, and rock cds that I’ve copied; and who knows what else that Cathey hasn’t told me about.
Add to all of that the fact that another Sharon – a friend from Fareham, England – will be arriving in Beziers by train a few hours after our plane lands and it becomes clear that we’ll probably have to rent a second car.
Our arrival day will be a busy one. Normally, we arrive at our house in the early afternoon, take a nap to clear out the lag, then have dinner in La Pressoir, the local restaurant just down the street. We do our grocery shopping the next day. Since we’ll be coming in on a Saturday, and all of the grocers are closed on Sunday, the first order of business will be to get the shopping done. But that’s not all. We’ll be arriving at the tail end of a local festival celebrating the end of the grape harvest – the vendange. There should be just enough time for a quick visit to our local ‘cave cooperatif’ (wine co-op), where there will be wine tastings, roasted chestnuts and more, before they close down for the day. Then shop before the markets close and, oh yes, don’t forget to pick up UK Sharon at the train station in Beziers.
Unpack. Dinner at La Pressoir. Make beds. Sleep.
Sunday is planned to be a lazy day with only one appointment – a concert in the church in the village square featuring an organist, a soprano and a counter-tenor. It’s a nice little church, nothing special on the outside, but there’s a beautiful hammered silver altar piece that has led to recognition on the national registers of such things. We’ll probably also take the time to arrange a dinner with our friends in Capestang who own the Chambres du Canal – a B&B that I heartily recommend to those who would prefer accommodations somewhere between a hotel and a house rental. Speaking of hotels, we’ll also make reservations to have dinner at the Hotel Residence in Nissan-lez-Enserune, where chef/owner Philippe Sans does wonders with local ingredients at reasonable prices.
The only highly organized outing planned for the first week is a trip to Biarritz. Cathey, having sampled the joys of warm water seafood from the Med, can’t wait to taste fishy Atlantic fare – oysters in particular. We’ll spend three days and two nights, staying at the Hotel St. Charles. At first, we thought that Biarritz would be expensive and a bit too chic for our tastes, so we examined (over the web) the smaller, less well known former fishing villages along the coast. What we found was that these more obscure destinations have become so popular that prices are sky high. Biarritz, on the other hand, is loaded with hotels of all stripes, fighting for what remains of the tourist trade. Thus, Biarritz.
While over there, we’ll check out Basque country. We have a list of vineyards and restaurants. Should be fun.
At the end of the first week Liz, US Sharon and Marianne head for Barcelona for a long weekend, UK Sharon heads home, and Vera and Phil arrive from Southampton. We don’t know exactly when Vera and Phil will arrive, how long they’ll stay, or what their parking requirements will be – they may be driving their caravan which may or may not fit down our little street. We’ll adapt.
The only planned outing during the second week will take place on Wednesday when Rob, our property manager, takes us out to his favorite vineyard for a special tasting and tour. Speaking of touring, there are a couple of sites we’d like to visit. After a half dozen trips over, we’ve still managed to miss checking out the Abbaye de Fontcaude, just five minutes from Cazouls.
I have no doubt that we’ll spend a good bit of time that week shopping. After Cathey flips every switch, places and evaluates the decorative items that we’ve brought and inventories supplies, we’ll head for Carrefour, the hypermarket in Narbonne. While in Narbonne, we’ll stroll through Les Halles, the neat covered market that sells everything from seafood and meats to fruits and flowers. We’ll stop by Le Mewen Creperie where US Sharon will order sickeningly sweet fluffies for lunch.
And then, of course, there’ll be the packing, closing down the house and the making of lists…what we’ll need to bring next time that we should have brought this time.
That’s it. That’s the plan. I’ll be back in early November to report on just how far off the itinerary we managed to stray.
