2018-04-05 Northern Italy and Southern France St Pierre La Mer to Peyriac-de-Mer

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St Pierre La Mer to Peyriac-de-Mer

Northern Italy and Southern France by Hymer Motorhome

St Pierre La Mer to Peyriac-de-Mer

We lying in my bed fast asleep when a noisy camper engine wakes us. It is very close by. Gill comes to consciousness and realises it is parking very close to us, very close!

There are 60 spaces on this campsite and only about twenty campers here, so why is this person parking so close to to other campers! They are noisy, getting in and out, banging things before they settle, it takes ages to go back to sleep. Gill gets up and makes coffee.

Sure enough, a camper is parked so near to us we can almost touch it. Gill gets up and get dressed and tells the driver how inconsiderate he is. He is German relatively young and does not really speak English. He understands the gist of what is being said and apologies. Gill points out about 30 empty spaces and ask why he parks here… squeezed between us and the next camper? He cannot answer! Gill is grumpy all day over my lack of sleep.

We leave St Pierre de Mer and that lovely view over the sea in brilliant sunshine and drive about a mile or two up the road following signs ‘Route des Vins’. and decide to try the wine tasting. We stop first at Moyau, a lovely (and typical) French vineyard with cream and yellow buildings, thick walls and cool inside. We ring the bell and say ‘Bonjour’ when a lady arrives… she is from North Wales but has lived in the south of France for almost forty years. We talk a lot about England and France and wine.

We try two whites, a rose and two reds. They are all very good, much better than expected. Languedoc and its grapes (Viognier, vermentino, Carignane, Grenache and Picpoul) are some of our favourites. We buy 6 white, 6 red and two bottles of the single variety Grenache at €23 a bottle. We rarely pay more than €10, so that’s a testament to what we thought of this particular wine.

We drive another few miles up the road and stop for lunch. It is hot and sunny, about 20°C and life feels very lazy.

We decide to drive over to the Narbonnaise near Gruissan and walk in the Montagne de la Clape up to the viewpoint. There is a semi-circular painted orientation of the view starting with the Pyrenees mountains in the west, next the Corbières range with Narbonne and its huge cathedral nestling in the valley to the north and the Montagne de la Clape. The view is magnificent, not least as it is clear and sunny. Back down in the valley we head towards a campsite at Peyriac-de-Mer but get distracted by another winery and decide to go for tasting here too. This winery is called Chateau Ricadelle, older and more well established than Moyau.

Moyau winery this morning was owner by Germans and managed by the English couple. This winery is French and managed by French owners. The local Carignan grape is much used here, although probably despised outside this area of France. As always the local produce suits the area it is grown in very well. The Viognier and Vermentino grapes are the mainstay of the white wine and are excellent. Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Cinsault make up the reds. We buy four more bottles and head for the campsite. It is tucked away just outside the village sports field, there are 14 spaces on grass and we are number twelve to arrive.

There is a good selection of birds here, Serins, Great Tits, Gold Finches, Collared Doves.

We sit in the warm sunshine at the far end of the campsite and consider when we might turn north again and think about returning home. Not tomorrow though; the plan is to go to Carcassonne.