France Trip 2012 – Loire, Banyuls & Limoux Archives

Route of the Cathars: Carcassonne and Renne Le Chateau With Wines of Limoux and Maury, France

June 2012 – Before leaving the US, I read several articles on the Cathars and their unusual and tragic history in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. Therefore, I was anxious to visit some of their territory, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Route of the Cathars coincided with my planned visits to the wine towns of Limoux and Maury. (Wine was introduced into this region in 600 B.C. by the Phoenicians and Greeks.) The Cathars were an usual sect of Christians who were vegetarians and believed in reincarnation. Some of the ancient rumors – picked up by Dan [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T20:44:46-08:00July 15, 2012|

Charming Collioure France: Banyuls Wines & La Balette Restaurant

June 2012 - We have rented an apartment for a week in the seaside town of Collioure in the far southwestern region of France only 20 kilometers from the Spanish border. I visited here once before 15 years ago and fell in love with the charming little village with its calm bay surrounded by church, tower, chateau and stone seawalls. It has narrow streets with houses and stores painted in pastel colors and flowers are everywhere. It is the place where many famous painters came to paint including Matisse, Picasso, and Derain. In addition to sunbathing on the pebbly beaches [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T20:45:08-08:00June 21, 2012|

Loire Valley: Chateau Cheverny & Romorantin Wine

We are spending a week in a French gite an hour south of Paris in the tiny village of Thourey-Ferroutes near Fountainbleu. The gite is quite spacious with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, full kitchen and living room. It is within the grounds of a large chateau, and the owner Sylvie, is very gracious and speaks perfect English. We are relaxing in the area and also taking day trips. So far we have visited Chartres, Monet’s garden in Giverny (stayed there the first night at a B&B), and took the train to Paris (leaves every 30 minutes from the delightful town [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T20:45:30-08:00June 9, 2012|