Chasing the Sun

 Cheater Post!

The fall rains arrived the day after my dinner party and I had a few free days, so I decided to up and run away down to the Mediterranean.  To say it was spontaneous would be a laughable understatement, but I was trying to decide what to do with myself - I wanted a little road trip SOMEwhere - and then it hit me that chasing the sun to the Med might be just the ticket.  

I pulled out my map and it seemed the closest Med beach was in an ancient city called Narbonne.  Took about a 1/2 hour to research this locale and decided it would do the trick.

So, technically, this Love Note is not from Perigord but from Narbonne and Narbonne Plage.

I'm going to keep the prose short and go big on the photos.  Narbonne is not really on the tourist docket, and obviously November makes it even more sparse - but when it starts raining in the Dordogne, I am counting on escaping here again.  Wow.  Beautiful city, breathtaking beach, and indescribable countryside down and in between.  Very different landscape from Perigord.

My only caveat:  bring your provisions.  I essentially went almost 2 days without really eating due to a longer drive than expected and my own stupidity.  Thank goodness I grabbed a satsuma and my bottle of Perrier!  All the French rhythms get accentuated in the off-season - so you will NOT eat before noon or in between 2PM and 7:00.  And the way my journey unfolded that ended up being an unusual problem.

I had envisioned a leisurely lunch at café on the beach today and it was like the Coney Island of the movies in the winter.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  All the places I'd carefully researched online for lunch hours were simply shut down.  But - that also meant I had the entire beach to myself.  Ne suck pas.  Narbonne Plage is about a 20+ minute drive from Narbonne.

Narbonne is a city dominated by a central canal, with beautiful squares and pedestrian boulevards shaded by mature trees.  Houseboats line the canal and a giant daily indoor market runs until 2PM with all manner of meats, cheeses, produces, and other goods.  I'm not sure I'd spend a week here, but it's a great jumping off place to the rest of the Mediterranean.  Highly recommend!

Tomorrow, back to Belvès, the welcome fall rains, and a cozy fire.