Merveilleux Minerve
The Minervois, or Minerve, area of southeast France will enchant you with its history, scenery and culinary delights, discovered Ian Sclater
Carcassonne
The plains and rolling hills of the Minerve stretch across the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, south to the foothills of the Pyrenees. Visitors are charmed by its network of tree-lined country roads winding through abundant vineyards and linking sleepy, medieval villages with twisting, narrow streets and sand-coloured stone buildings.
The mild, Mediterranean climate induces relaxation, whether on a village square bench, by a trail through the 'garrigue' (the low, soft-leaved scrubland which covers much of the landscape) or along the famed Canal du Midi.
Named after the village of Minerve (see below), the area is steeped in a beleaguered history which has bequeathed to its inhabitants a fiercely independent, yet warm and welcoming spirit. Its ancient language, Occitan, is still spoken as a first language and preserved in folk songs.
The Minerve is also famed for its food and wine, which the locals discuss and enjoy with a passion other people reserve for sex or football. Even the most unassuming villages seem to have a gourmet restaurant tucked up some back street.
BIZE-MINERVOIS
'Bize' is a sleepy village of about a thousand inhabitants where a quarter of the houses are holiday homes. A typical maze of winding streets and alleys, it is entered through the 13th century Porte Saint Michel.
Bize is also home to the Cooperative
L'Oulibo, which produces a range of awardwinning
olive varieties, including their
speciality, the distinctive, bright green 'Lucques
de Bize,' produced exclusively in the
Languedoc-Roussillon region. Free guided
tours attract 100,000 visitors a year and a large
shop does a roaring trade in oil, wine and
kitchen paraphernalia. You might also get a
lesson in making tapenade, an olive spread
delicious on fresh bread washed down with
wine. Bize holds an annual olive festival in July.
Where to eat: Les Raisins du Soleil is a
restaurant and wine shop combined in a vineshaded
courtyard. www.les-raisins-du-soleil.com
Where to stay: La Bastide Cabezac is a restored
former post office in Mediterranean decor.
www.la-bastide-cabezac.com
THE CATHARS
The Minerve witnessed one of the most horrific episodes in the region's history, from which it still retains one of its epithets: Cathar Country. A religious group which rejected any idea of priesthood or the use of church buildings, the Cathars challenged the belief that the Roman Catholic Church was the authority on religious truth. A peaceable sect leading ascetic lives and working in itinerant manual trades such as weaving, their very existence was a threat to Rome. In 1209, Pope Innocent III began a crusade against them, effectively the first holy war in Europe: the Inquisition. After a 20-year struggle Catharism was eradicated at the cost of around a million lives. The last Cathar was burned at the stake in 1321. Used as refuges, the castles of Cathar Country, most in ruins after facing many sieges, have become symbols of their struggle.
CARCASSONNE
The second most visited historical site in France after the Eiffel Tower, Carcassonne's medieval walled fortress, or 'Cité,' dominates the red tile-roofed lower town. It draws two million visitors annually to marvel at its ramparts, turrets and narrow streets right out of the middle ages.
In the mid-19th century it had fallen into such disrepair that the French government decided to demolish it. Such was the uproar that a successful campaign was launched to preserve it as a historical monument. While sixty years of restoration work have le? it looking somewhat like a Disney film set, it still manages to be more atmospheric than kitsch, despite the souvenir shops stuffed with plastic swords, suits of armour and toy knights.
In 1997 Carcassonne was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. On July 14,
Bastille Day, it is the scene of the largest
fireworks in France, attracting up to a million
people. www.carcassonne-tourisme.com
Where to stay: All carved wood panelling, ornate
tapestries and stained glass windows, the neogothic,
Hotel de la Cité sits near the top of the
hilltop fortress. It celebrated its centenary in
2009. www.hoteldelacite.com
Where to eat: The Michelin star brasserie Chez
Saskia has hosted royalty, politicians and stars of
stage and screen. Their photos line the walls.
CAUNES-MINERVOIS
Famed for its Romanesque Benedictine Abbey of St Pierre and Paul, founded around 780, Caunes-Minervois is a charming huddle of well preserved Renaissance townhouses. Look out for the distinctive pink Caunes marble, a dominant feature of many buildings and which was used in the Trianon in Versailles and the Paris Opera House. There are still three working quarries in the area, and Caunes marble is still exported as far afield as Japan. Every June the village holds a 'Fête du Marbre.' www.caune-minervois.com
LE SOMAIL
This idyllic, 17th century harbour village was once a popular stopover along the Canal du Midi, where canal travellers would break up their journey and sleep at the canalside inn. Look out for the floating barge grocery moored by the picturesque stone bridge. Not to be missed: the book browser's heaven that is the barn-like Le Trouve Tout du Livre, a legendary bookshop stuffed floor to ceiling with 50,000 multi-lingual, multisubject titles.
MINERVE
Considered one of the most beautiful villages in France, Minerve is perched on a limestone spur encircled on three sides by the gorges of the River Brian and the River Cesse. Leaving your vehicle in a car park on the edge of the village, you enter by foot past La Candela (The Candle), the towering remains of a 13th castle.
The Rue des Martyrs is a poignant reminder
of the purge of the Cathars. In
1210, some 140 Carthars walked along the
street to be burned at the stake. On a facing
cliff stands a reconstruction of a 13th century
catapult used by their tormentors to besiege
the village.
Where to eat: Relais Chantovent specialises in
regional cooking with local produce.
www.relaischantovent-minerve.fr
Where to stay: Just outside Minerve and
surrounded by vineyards, the hilltop La Bastide
les Aliberts is a renovated 13th century
farmhouse with five guest houses, or 'gîtes.'
www.gite.com/aliberts.
CANAL DU MIDI
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 240 kilometre/150 mile-long Canal du Midi is the oldest canal in Europe still in use. It was built by order of Louis XIV as a direct trade link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, avoiding the expensive and dangerous Straits of Gibralter.
Construction began under the supervision of the renowned engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet, who died the year before the inauguration of the canal in 1681. It was completed by his two sons. 2009 saw the 400th anniversary of Riquet's birth.
Today river tourism has taken over from goods transportation as the canal's main activity. Boats cruise it at a top speed of eight kilometres an hour between March and November (no boat license required), or you can walk, cycle or ride along its tree-lined towpath.
'THE LARGEST VINEYARD IN THE WORLD'
The Minerve is essentially one vast vineyard stretching between Bézier and Carcassonne and cultivated by over 200 individual winemakers and cooperatives. It is the oldest and largest wine-making region in France with no fewer than 18 'terroirs' with the much coveted Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) marque of excellence under the umbrella brand name 'Sud de France.' Some local winemakers will confess that their individuality also hampers them; lacking a cohesive marketing plan, they are greatly outsold by the big boys of Bordeaux and Burgundy.
How to get there: From Edinburgh, Ryanair flies to Carcassonne Tuesdays and Saturdays from March 31, 2010. Fares from £33 one-way, incl. all charges. www.ryanair.com
Useful links:
http://en.sunfrance.com
www.leminervois.com
www.audetourisme.com
