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Published: November 26th 2012
I am changing my approach with this blog. There has been so darn much to see and do, I am currently about 12 cities behind and a month late in my blog. This doesn't give the reader much of an idea of what we are doing now.
So on the advice of a seasoned blogger, I am going to jump to the present and catch up later with cities we visited in the Poitou Charentes region. So we are now in St Chinian which is in the south of France, West of Provence. We will be here until at least April, or about 6 months. We chose to live here because of the climate, the history and the wine. We read that this area was a well kept secret. Since it borders the Meditteranean, the climate is milder with an average 300 days of sunshine per year. It borders in the south on Spain and the Basque country. There are high mountains to the north and beaches to the south. It's 3.5 million people are concentrated in urban centers like Toulouse, Montpelier, Nimes and Perpignan. Otherwise, it is small villages and hamlets.
St Chinian is in the middle, north
of Beziers(Bezyay) and Narbonne. It is a small village of 1900 souls with two good restaurants, Le Village and La Caleche and several bakeries, butcher shops, beauty salons, and pharmacies and a supermarket. All you need for a cozy stay. We've learned that, just like the rest of rural France, all shops are closed from 12-2 daily and all the cafes and restaurants are open. After that all the restaurants are closed at 2 and all the shops reopen to 5.
St Chinian was established by the Benedictines in the 10th century.But their Abbey was destroyed in the Wars of Religion in the 16th Century. The present buildings were built in the 17th century. A 15th century bell rings the hour which we can easily hear from our house. There is a medieval canal running along town called the Canal de l'Abbaye and use of the water was regulated by the Charter of 1465. The water drove the mills, spinning factories and workshops along the water. Many of these were destroyed in a massive flood in 1875 which killed 100 of the townspeople.
Our house is located on Quai Villaneauve along the canal. It is a typical French
house with steep stairs in the entry to the second floor. On the first floor, there are two garages. These were used to store animals and the curved doorway on one was to allow the horse cart to pull in from the street. On the second floor, we have a living area to one side of the stairs and a kitchen and bedroom to the other. Stairs within the house are steep, winding and tile covered. So it pays to be totally awake before venturing down from the third floor bedrooms for coffee. Our kitchen still has the fireplace and a grate to cook although we use a gas/electric stove in the corner.
One of the things we love about this house is the courtyard in the back. It is three stories high and totally enclosed. The back wall seems to be part of an old wall with small holes and an ancient beam included. We have been told it was used for the animals centuries ago. At night, with the flood lights on, it is a magic spot. We plan to fire up the small fireplace and enjoy some wine out there soon.
Which brings me to
the subject of heat. We have learned that it's not easy to evenly heat a 300year old, 3 story house. We have an oil burner and radiators in all the rooms. But we have friends coming from the US in the cold months ahead and we want them (and us) to be comfortable. So we hedged our bets and decided to stock up on wood for our fireplace. We made 3 trips to the Brico Marche (French Home depot) to buy wood bundles. In France, wood is sold in "steres" which is about 40 cubic feet I think. They deliver a 4 steres or 160 bundles of unseasoned wood as a minimum order. Then we would have had to add dry wood. We have also learned that the fireplace can cook us right out if we get too aggressive. So with a combination of radiators, wood fires and fans, we are making progress.
One of the unexpected pleasures here is the fall color. I didn't realize the grape leaves would change into such beautiful colors. The hills are shades of red, orange and gold. Since most of the trees are deciduous, they are beautiful too. The scenery rivals the
East Coast for sure.
So next time, we go on some adventures in the area. A Bientot! (see you soon)
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Great blog!
Perfect.... love the fall vines. Your photography enhances your story. Love it! Great house. Talk with you soon.