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Published: October 22nd 2017
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Geo: 43.7676, 4.10119
When we left Camping La Serre last Thursday, we encountered a peaceful protest on passing through Mirepoix, being part of the nationwide strike action. We simply took the flyer offered and drove on our way.
We joined the motorway network just before Carcassonne which would take us within a few miles of our next destination in Languedoc. It was busy with commercial traffic - far more than we had encountered for a few weeks, and soon we were on the A9 motorway forming the Italy/Spain route through France just as the Romans would have done centuries ago. The Languedocienne is currently undergoing a major upgrade, but traffic flowed well.
Our destination, Camping Domaine de Massereau, just outside Sommieres, is ten years old this month after being started by two brothers - one with background in winemaking, the other in the hotel business. Larger than we usually go for these days but it makes a change and is convenient for a couple of places to visit in the area, as well as having some good facilities. On our first evening, we used the restaurant which was very pleasant but the quantities were huge, though well cooked.
Saturday was market day in Sommieres -
a tradition that has been going on for over 800 years. Stalls lining narrow streets, in the squares and along the riverside pavement. Although only a stroll of 20-30 minutes along the Tarmac-topped cycle path, we drove in so as to visit the supermarket, replace the campingaz cylinder for the outdoor cooker and to top up with fuel in view of the current problems.
Saturday into Sunday we had an overnight storm with rain, thunder and lightning. After it had passed, there was a further few hours of drip, drip, drip from the overhead trees. With the storm has come a lot of debris (twigs, leaves and bark) onto the car, caravan and awning.
On Tuesday, we walked to Sommieres to visit the Tourist Office ahead of an anticipated trip to Nimes. We asked the lady why everywhere was so quiet, to which she replied "It's Monday. The shops are closed". Thankfully we had not come to buy anything, so after the hustle and bustle of market day, we could take our time to meander the streets and admire the ancient buildings. I had read that the town and surrounding area is prone to flooding from the R. Vidourle, but I was
unprepared for the dated markings on the side of one dwelling. One which recorded the level reached in 2002 must have been 10-12' above the pavement on which we were standing. Unbelievable.
In one of the squares we found an Italian restaurant, Sansovino, which seemed quite popular and displayed a tempting menu, so we decided to have lunch at one of the outdoor tables. We chose antipasti to start with, followed by the house speciality, penne with sausage in a creamy mushroom sauce. I passed on pud, but David had tiramisu once again. It was all helped down with a delicious bottle of red. Perfect.
Yesterday we had every intention of seeing Nimes and the renowned Roman buildings, such as the arena which was used in the filming of 'Gladiator'. However, parking was so difficult and stressful, the streets so narrow, that we eventually gave up and headed for home. We are finding that visiting cities is no fun, being content with the simpler things in a holiday - David on his bike, me with a book or crochet.
The region is famed for textile manufacturing, mainly wool and silk, from the 17th century. However, later on cotton was imported which was dyed
a light blue colour using Italian indigo, woven in a particular way to create 'Serge de Nimes' - a very strong cloth. Trading was established all over the world, including New York, where it became known as 'bleu de Genes' (Genoan blue), and in due course it was anglicised to 'blue jeans'.
In the 19th century Levi Strauss, who made workwear for miners and prospectors, bought a batch of Nimes cloth, the first batch bearing the number 501 which was to give its name to the well known brand of trousers.
Having bought some wine produced next door, we are now pretty much packed away ready to move on to Provence in the morning.
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