2022: Pezenas and Paris: Today we are unprepared...

We were unprepared to be woken at the crack of dawn (6am). At this point we were used to the early morning street cleaning (7am) but this was exceptionally egregious. We thought it was the guys at Cafe des Arts but it was actually the vendors setting up for the massive street market. We walked by numerous stalls filled with produce, cheeses, breads, veggies, clothing, anything you could want, on our way to the car.

Husband had looked at the map and wanted to see the Cirque de Navacelles, a 3 star sight. He showed me on the map where it was but I barely had coffee so it didn't register.

We headed out with about a 1/4 tank of gas. And, only halfway to the Cirque, I had about died of fright 16,000 times! I was really not emotionally prepared to deal with super cliffy roads. I can hike them but am scared witless in a car on them.

So when we got to St-Pierre de la Fage and saw the gas tank was even emptier, with no stations in sight, and the map was showing even more cliffy roads, husband took mercy on me (and our potential stranded-on-the-side-of-a-cliff-road-in France situation) and drove us back down the mountain. I only about died 5,000 times going down, whew! I had finally found a beautiful area of France that I hated, sigh...

I loved that the bikers slowed us down! :)

We decided to visit the Prieure St Michel de Grandmont https://prieure-grandmont.fr/which was listed on our Sites d'Exception map (which we got at Chateau Abbaye de Cassan). We filled up with gas in Lodeve and made our way to the Priory, on yes, cliffy roads. But after the scare earlier, I was almost calm. :)

The entrance fee (discounted because of the map) included an audio guide and handy reference map. There were also signs through out the site.

But what is it? A 12C priory with a chapel, Visigothic tombs from the 5-6C, a lake, panoramic terraces overlooking the gorgeous countryside, a megalitic park (with a sofa!) with a dolmen, and deer and goats.

The Priory was active from the late 1120's to 1772 when the order was dissolved. It was a very strict and austere order. The monks lived very simply in complete silence. They walked barefoot, were vegetarians, and subsisted on donations.

13C cloister. Peaceful and beautiful.

The church was the first thing built in the 12C. It's almost 28 meters long, almost 7 meters wide, and 11 meters high. Very spacious and light filled from the windows in the apse.

These stairs led to the dormitories and you can see their wear patterns.

Outside, the guide led us to Visigoth tombs from the 5th and 6th centuries. There were more "modern" tombs nearby.

Peaceful setting for the cemetery

One of the panoramic terraces

The lake. A more modern addition. But simply beautiful.

The tour meandered to several areas with megalithic stones and gorgeous views

Stone sofa, y'all! It was quite comfy as I listened to the audio guide

The dolmen from 2500 BC

And more gorgeous views of the Salagou valley, Mount Liausso, and inactive volcano Brandou.

And cute animals.

We would highly recommend a visit to this Priory.

We next headed to the Cirque de Moureze. Thank goodness for the GPS! It routed us through Villeneutte where I knew Restaurant La Source was well regarded. We parked, walked around the cute town, and then were turned away for lunch because they were closed, at 2pm. OK, on to Moureze.

We were unprepared to be hungry and unable to find a place for lunch. We could have bought picnic supplies at the Pezenas market.The restaurant, that looked very nice, on the highway, closed at 2. The creperie was packed with no place to sit. So we settled for a small sandwich and sodas at the "fast food" type place. We did have water, and boy did these unprepared Americans need it!

After our meager lunch, we walked through the adorable town. The views were outstanding. There is a path to the dolomitic rocks from the town but it was hard to follow.

We decided to go park in the pay lot across from the Tourist Information and try to figure out the hikes. The staffer explained the two most popular hikes through the Moureze. We decided, wisely, to follow the shorter route because it was a hot day and we were not dressed for the weather. We still found the routes very confusing.

The views, though, were gorgeous!

Narrow, slippery paths

After our hike, we were hot and tired. It was time to get back to our pretty Pezenas. She was gorgeous in the late afternoon sun.

We relaxed over drinks at Cafe des Arts.

Then headed over to the square for ice cream before everything closed down. We sat on the steps of Collegiale St. Jean and a couple of French people tried to talk to us. Gotta learn more French!