Elsien's Traveblogue
Friday, October 26, 2012
Aigues Mortes October 2012
 |
| The Tour de Constance, prison for Huguenots captured in XVII century |
Aigues Mortes, October 2012
Near Montpellier are lots of small and
medium-sized towns : Nimes, Beziers, Sète, Narbonne... Even
Carcassonne and Perpignan are not that far. I'm taking the plane from
Perpignan to Stansted, UK, next week and that's just an hour and a
half by car on the motorway. To get from Gatwick to Stansted by train
in England takes longer …
When the weather looks like it might
rain, we tend to go off and visit one of these cities. This is, even
in the Languedoc, the 'rainy season'. We went on a beach walk a few
weeks ago and got completely drenched, so cities are a safer bet.
Last week we went to Aigues Mortes, an
ancient 'walled city' to the East of Montpellier. It existed in the
tenth century but its port was rebuilt by King Louis IX, Saint Louis,
and was France's only Mediterranean port at the time. It served as the
port for the Crusades, in 1248 and another one in 1270. The walls of
the city were built then as well ; we didn't walk on the walls
as it had just started to rain, but we'll have a go at that soon.
 | |
| Saint Louis, a little sad in the rain, fete all around him ... |
Below Saint Louis leaving for the Holy Land, picture from the church
Aigues Mortes was celebrating annual festivities. We'd missed the bull running but the fair was still going and on the square various bands were playing, either French oompa or English 70's rock. There were a few semi-drunk teenage young men roaming the streets, but this being France, not Britain, remained fairly civilised... The younger boys occasionally let off some bangers. There were some tourists, but almost all of them French.
Profiteroles and crème brulée for dessert are always a hit!
I was impressed by the display of biscuits in the biscuit shop. As it was the Fete, most shops were open, even though it was Sunday. We went for a stroll inside the walled town, where we saw sweet little houses like the one below.
Archives
August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 March 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 February 2009 September 2009 December 2009 February 2010 March 2010 June 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 February 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 June 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 December 2012 March 2013 April 2013 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018
