The Abbey in St. Hilaire

St. Hilaire Abbey

 Things are winding down here in our French home exchange.  We'll be heading for Holland on Sunday so we are taking it pretty easy until then.  But, not far from Magrie, is the tiny village of St. Hilaire.  There is a lovely 11th to 14th century Benedictine abbey that we thought we would toddle over to view. (The first chapel there was even before that - like maybe the 10th century, if you can imagine that long ago).  The trip was scenic and short.  However, we made the grave mistake of arriving there at 11:45 a.m. when the Abbey closes at 12:00 for a 2 hour lunch break and we were told that it takes 30 minutes to take the tour.  Oh well.  We saw the lovely grounds of the abbey but didn't get to go into the church which is really what I wanted to see - the sarcophagus of St. Sernin, the first Bishop of Toulouse.  It is a beautiful piece (which I only know from looking it up on the Internet).  Instead we walked the streets of St. Hilaire and took pictures which is always a great pleasure for me, especially on a picture perfect day like today is.  HERE ARE THE PICTURES.

By the way, supposedly the Benedictine monks of St. Hilaire discovered Blanquette - the sweet bubbly wine which is so much in abundance here, made from the little sweet green grapes.  I really love the mental image of these monks discovering bubbly wine, don't you?

Benedictine Monk with his Blanquette in St. Hilaire

We debated whether to have lunch in St. Hilaire or not and decided instead to stop at LeClerc and buy some salmon to cook at home.  We did and we're glad we did - it was delicious and we enjoyed it with a lovely fresh salad, French bread and a nice bottle of St. Hilaire chardonney.  Who could ask for more?

A Couple of Days of R & R

After our trip to Mirepoix, it's time for a couple of easy days in Magrie for R&R.  I made my Leek & Potato soup - no recipe - just cooked up some leeks, garlic, carrots, potatoes, added a little purchased vegetable veloute, threw in some seasonings and pureed it all.  It turned out to be quite tasty and went well as a starter to our salmon dinner.  (And, leftovers for lunch tomorrow). 

We decided to check out the winery up the hill - friends of our hosts:  Alain Cavailles.  We headed up on foot and it was not far at all but emphasis on the UP and it was early afternoon and hot in the sun.  When we arrived, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the countryside and town below.  Unfortunately, the sign said that the visiting day for the winery is Thursday - so we will go back then.  The road continued up but not for us on foot - too hot  - we headed back down and got the car to go to the top where there were more vineyards and more views. 

After our little drive up the hill we checked out the other supermarket in Limoux, found a few inexpensive wines - at the rate we consume the wine, they have to be inexpensive.  Tee-hee.  I also spied a duck filet which called to me. (aka: boneless duck breast).  There seems to be an abundance of duck around here and it is something we rarely have back in Mexico so I'll check out how to cook it on the Internet today and let you know how it turns out. We do enjoy duck but I can't remember the last time I had any.  I might even include a picture if I remember to take one.  

This morning was cloudy and a bit rainy - a good thing for this very hot and dry spell they have had here - and a day for more relaxing and looking up stuff on the Internet as well as being entertained by the felines.  Marcel is sound asleep on the desk next to me as I write. 

I asked our hosts if it would be permissible to drive into Spain with their car - the answer was no problem at all and they suggested a little fishing town on the Costa Brava in Catalan, Spain called  Cadaqués.  I looked it up and knew that this would be an interesting place to visit and it is only a 2 1/2 hr drive from here.  After consulting with John, we agreed to spend one night there.  I immediately booked a hotel online and we will leave early Sunday morning - returning on Monday afternoon.  I am very excited to be going to Spain, one of my favorite countries, even if it is just an overnight excursion.

AND HERE ARE MORE PICTURES.