04/26/2012, Cap D'Agde, France
A couple of cold windy days has meant we have sheltered in the 2,400 berth marina at Cap d'Agde. So it was adventuring to the nearby old town of Agde. The name comes from the Greek "Agathe tyche" which the Greeks called the Phonetician settlement they took over in 5th century BC. The buildings are from black basalt so not pretty by any means, but intriguing as the streets between the ancient buildings are so narrow they are for walking only, and when you look up the houses seem to meet overhead. The town is on the Herault River so the old houses on the water have bollards and big metal rings in the masonry that they used to use to secure their boats to. The river leads to the sea or to the Midi canal, where there is the only round lock on the 240km canal. This lets boats continue to Sete on the canal or break off and go to Agde and the sea. It was intriguing to watch it in action. And the highlight was the museum of ancient ship wrecks, and the three bronze Greek statues of a child, Eros and L'Ephebe or Alexander of Agde, a handsome youth. They are all around 2300 years old and Alexander was found on the bottom of the river only a few decades ago. And scenery wise, the fort at the mouth of the marina, Le Fort de Brescou, built in 1586 and refortified by Richelieu and Vauban, is austerely beautiful, but the prisoners must have had a hard time there. See our Agde picture gallery for more photos.
| Touring France |
04/23/2012, Gruissan, France
Gruissan, which we had never heard of before and about which the internet and Lonely Planet were largely silent, was a great experience. It was first mentioned in the 700s, and for a lot of its history was ruled cojointly by the Archbishop of Narbonne and the local lord, who exploited its salt and fish. What remains is a tower on the high point of the town which the Archbishop lived in as well as using as a prison. The 13th century church is also very beautiful and is apparently representative of Languedoc churches. The altar is six pink marble columns supporting the Virgin Mary rising to Heaven in billowing clouds. It also tells the history of Gruissan in that there is a painting of Saint Peter, in memory of 32 local fishermen who drowned in 1797, and the sad Honour Board to the men who died in the first World War ~ many families lost four sons. We wandered round the old town, and the old cemetery where heroes of the two world wars, the Indochina wars and the North African wars lie. The town was really tourist free, except for us. We had a lunch of moules (mussells) and pommes frites (french fries) and rose wine for E10 each. And to cap it all off, on our way to dinner we saw two flocks of flamingoes calling and flying overhead ~ were they going back to Africa or coming up?
| Touring France |
04/23/2012, Gruissan, France
Notre Dame de l,Assumption de Gruissan
| Touring France |
04/23/2012, Gruissan, France
Bar crawl, Sunday afternoon
| Touring France |
04/23/2012, Gruissan, France
Gruissan bar crawl, Sunday afternoon
| Touring France |
04/23/2012, Gruissan, France
Gruissan village looking across the marina and the salt pans to the Med
| Touring France |
