Hello Readers, how are you doing? Sorry I have been a bit quiet of late, I have been travelling a lot recently.
In September, I travelled to Cruscades in the South of France, it’s a village 
located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The Languedoc- Roussillon region is known for it’s vin or wine as we say. There are also lots of castles to explore as well! You can be your own King or Queen for the day.

We flew from London Stansted via Ryanair to Carcassonne and a few of our party had hired a car. Carcassonne is located 38 km away from Cruscades.  A car is needed in Cruscades as it is a small village in the countryside.  Whilst driving from Carcassonne, we drove by plentiful fields full of vineyards and wind turbines.  The nearest town Lezignan Corbieres had supermarkets and a train station. You can get a train from Lezignan to Carcassonne for 8 euros one way.

A group of  26 of us stayed in this 17th century chateau that had wonderful antiques, french furniture and exquisite chandeliers.


















Each room was tastefully decorated and unique. We had a great time, we sauntered around the house, read books,  sat out in the sunshine with a glass of local wine and bread and cheese.



Every time you walked into the room you’d see another antique, vase, statue. There was ample bathrooms, bedrooms and enough crockery and cutlery for self-catering which we enjoyed in the dining room and al fresco.

Whilst we were there for the week we enjoyed the pool  in the sunshine and played boules in the courtyard.

We visited a local Abbey called Fontfroide which was 10 km away from Cruscades.
It was a lovely abbey with wonderful cloisters, gardens and views of the surrounding area. 











The icecream was tasty too.



You can have lunch there too.
Please see  https://www.fontfroide.com.
When you think of the France, you think of the beautiful produce, such as cheese,bread and the gastronomie as well as the vin.



We visited Narbonne which is located 15 km away from Cruscades.  Narbonne is a lovely city, there’s a historic feel to it. 



There is an indoor food market selling outstanding produce in the centre. It is called Les Halles De Narbonne and is opened from 0730 until 1330. It is made of iron and has a nice bustling atmosphere. You can buy coffee, cakes, have lunch, buy meat, seafood, flowers and so forth.



Also there is a craft market further from the indoor market selling all types of wares.
You must visit Narbonne’s cathedral, it is gothic architecture at it’s best.

Another gem you must explore is Lagrasse, it is a beautiful town with a tree lined boulevard and historic bridges. 
There are lovely shops where you can buy local goods such as leather bags, earrings. Sit down at a cafe and watch the world go by.

You must visit this wonderful restaurant. Twelve of the group had beautiful lunch at La Cocotte Felee, I’d thoroughly recommend it. We had a set menu and the quality of the food and wine was superb. It’s located at:  2 Boulevard de la Promenade, 11220 Lagrasse, France

  A few castles and a small family owned winery in Mailhac which was called Domaine Pierre Fil . We had an impromptu visit considering there were 20 of us and had 5 wine tastings and learnt history about the area and of course bought some white, red and rose wine for the chateau.




I thoroughly enjoyed this region of France and shall write about Carcassonne in my next post.