After the noise and commotion of Montpellier, we were fortunate to be able to move into Danielle's winter home in Montoulieu - Gite de la Bergerie. A Bergerie is a sheep barn, however in this case it has been converted into a lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on the mountainside overlooking the vineyards, the village and a roman ruin. It is just one of the lovely rental accommodations on Danielle and Phillipe's estate (see www.masdepradines.fr).
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| La Bergerie - Our New Home |
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| Our large private swimming pool |
Danielle and Phillipe produce a lovely trio of wines - red, rose and white - which are unfortunately only available locally. We have tried them all ... several times, and it's a three-way tie for our favorite. It seems that 2013 was a particularly good year, however, and it edges out the other years by a whisker. We are sorry that we will be taking a train to our next stop in Valencia, and cannot fit a case of wine in our luggage.
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| Lovely rose gardens surrounding the house |
Although a tiny village, Montoulieu has proven to be a nice central location for visiting the larger centres of Nimes, Avignon, and yes, even Montpellier. Within a few minutes drive we find the lovely old villages of Ganges, Laroque, St Bauzille de Putois, Saint Hippolyte du Fort and a little further afield, Arles Domessargues, Montignargues, and many other "something, something...argues". Each village has it's own character and charm and there is even one called the 'ancient village'.
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| An outdoor kitchen provides shade |
Just down the road is the Grotte de Moiselles, which is the most impressive underground cavern we have ever visited. Both the countryside villages and the Grotte deserve their own blog, and we will be posting these soon.
So is the countryside of southern France where we want to retire. We don't know, but it is certainly worth a visit longer than the ten days we've had here.
Hope you enjoy some of our many photos.
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| Roman Ruin high on the hill - for the serious hiker. |
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| The Village of Montoulieu - just a short walk in the country. |
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| The village |
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| A few of the village residents |
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| A dead vineyard |
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| Kilometers and Kilometers of live vineyards |
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| Looks like the start of a bumper crop |
Montoulieu looks a lot quieter than Montpellier and what a gorgeous countryside! I'd love to see the converted sheep barn and the town and Roman ruins look like they'd be fun to explore. What an amazing way to end your visit in France before you return to Spain.
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