Roquebrun

This is the quintessential French village. We visited it once in early September, and we enjoyed it (and their delicious wines) so much that we went back yesterday.

As you drive into Roquebrun, the view is magnificent. There is a tapestry of vineyards with L’orb river flowing through the landscape and Roquebrun climbing the hill beyond the river. As you can see from the pictures, Roquebrun is situated on a hill with ruins atop the village. There are other ruins (they look like watch towers) overlooking the river as well.

We spent a leisurely afternoon on the beach of L’orb, eating our brie, bread, and left-over BBQ chicken. Then Mike and the kids climbed into the chilly water to shoot the rapids. Well, Josey shot the rapids while Mike stood guard to rescue Max. I watched from the beach where I knitted peacefully in the sun, stopping frequently to take pictures.

When Max started shivering (it didn’t take long), he lounged on the beach with me. We were having fun watching Josey and Mike play in the water until we noticed Max and Josey’s thongs floating downstream!! Some small French children had thrown them in the water. Sheesh! Luckily, we got help saving the shoes and no one went barefoot.

After the water sports, we ventured across the bridge and into town. We kept walking up and up and up the beautifully maintained cobblestone paths until we reached the Jardin Mediteraneen. A walk through le jardin leads you to the base of the ruins. However, you cannot enter the ruins – unfortunately! The views from the top of the hill were absolutely breathtaking.

Roquebrun is the most well cared-for village we have visited so far. It is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, I can imagine living there

We ended our Roquebrun adventure at la cave cooperative. This is where all the local vineyards bring the grapes of the area to be made into wine. The region is known as St. Chinian, and it is famous for its delicious wines. Mike, ever the wine connoisseur, bought a lot of wine!

On the drive home, we were enjoying the amazingly beautiful architecture of France. Simply look out your window and you see either a vineyard in beautiful colors or a chapelle (small chapel) or an abandoned building of some sort or a castle. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what you can see . . .

Visit our Flickr site for the complete photo extravaganza! http://www.flickr.com/photos/billats/

My dad will be here to visit next weekend, and we can’t wait to bring him to Roquebrun!

Love to all!