Fortress, abbey, and langoustines

8-29-2011 Mon. hot, sunny.


BREAKFAST --- (at Chateau Raissac) coffee | croissant | baguette | butter | jam | yogurt |orange juice
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- grape from vineyard
DINNER --- (at a restaurant in Pages) shellfish plate ( prawn, conch, oyster) | potato and langoustine stew | grilled langoustine and mushroom | bread | wine

Fontfroide Abbey
dinning hall, wine cellar door, hearth, court yard

vineyard in Languedoc

Chateaux Cathares Peyrepertuse ( pierced rock, in Occitan)
a Cathar castle ruin

Peyrepertuse, northern face

inside the fortress


fishing village Bages

shellfish dinner in Bages

• Fortfroide Abbey turns into a museum with some private residence ( same family owned the Chateau Raissac), no more monks.
  
• it is quite a climb to Peyrepertuse, a ruin of Cathar castle ruin in the rugged Languedoc heartland.
  
• the little fishing village Bages has peaceful beach and winding streets. the shellfish dinner is so-so, langoustines here no peer to the ones in Norway.