{"id":1425,"date":"2019-11-30T17:36:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T17:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2019-11-30T17:36:48","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T17:36:48","slug":"narbonne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1425","title":{"rendered":"Narbonne"},"content":{"rendered":"

We almost didn\u2019t visit Narbonne.\u00a0 We were in southwest France to soak up village life and to visit vineyards.\u00a0 Why spend time visiting a second-tier city that wasn\u2019t on the list of \u201cmust-see\u201d places in the country.\u00a0 But it was only a short drive from where we were staying and so why not?\u00a0 It would have been a big mistake to miss Narbonne.<\/p>\n

Located in the heart of Languedoc Roussillon, there are indeed many vineyards in the general area as well as some famous beaches (Narbonne Plage) nearby.\u00a0 The city manages to contain ancient monuments, 19th<\/sup> century splendor and modernity quite well together.<\/p>\n

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Gargoyles on Narbonne\u2019s cathedral.<\/em><\/p>\n

The best of the ancient buildings are a gothic cathedral and an almost as old bishops\u2019 palace, so we went to take in a bit of medieval culture.\u00a0 And indeed, the cathedral is impressive.\u00a0 There had been others on the same location and in 1268 the Pope decided that the town was safe enough from heretics to build a new one.\u00a0 Most of it was erected, but they never quite got around to finishing it.\u00a0 What they did build is quite an eyeful, especially the gargoyles around the top.<\/p>\n

By all means see the old stones, but leave time for the more contemporary, less touristy attractions Narbonne has to offer.\u00a0 For us, foodies that we are, the topmost among these is the grand indoor market, Les Halles de Narbonne<\/em>.\u00a0 Like other markets in France, you\u2019ll find a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables bursting with color and flavor. (If you\u2019re there at the end of summer, eat mirabelles<\/em>, small green plums that are the sweetest we\u2019ve ever tasted and you can\u2019t find them in the United States.)\u00a0 There are beautiful meats, of course with butchers who will slice you a steak of Aubrac beef.\u00a0 And the cheese counters are a tour of French pastures.<\/p>\n

But not everywhere can you find the kiosk that specializes in tapenades, the olive and anchovy spreads beloved in the south of France.\u00a0 Or the fellow who will sell you cassoulet in an earthenware bowl for you to heat it up in.\u00a0 Or counters of tapas bars (Narbonne is quite close to Spain) where the locals meet on weekend mornings for snacks and wine.<\/p>\n

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A procession of winemakers through Les Halles de Narbonne during the F\u00eate des Vendanges<\/em><\/p>\n

Should you be there on the second Saturday of September, the local winemaking fraternities hold their annual F\u00eate des Vendanges<\/em> (harvest festival).\u00a0 You can see the members of these wine societies parade through the village and into the March\u00e9, striding with a few instrumentalists among the food stalls.\u00a0 A grand feast is held outside on long picnic tables, with food available from many of the stalls inside.\u00a0 You feel as though you were just transported to the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

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Along the Canal de la Robine in Narbonne<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to sit in a bistro along a tree-shaded canal, Narbonne offers many of them as well, along the Canal de la Robine that crosses the city.\u00a0 In warm weather, which is most of the year, there are outdoor tables in front of every restaurant.\u00a0 Your only problem is choosing which one.<\/p>\n

Finally, leave some time just to walk around.\u00a0 There are narrow medieval streets, leafy boulevards and lots of charming places to stop for a coffee.\u00a0 Avail yourself of this little French jewel of a city, and then drive just outside of town and visit the vineyards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We almost didn\u2019t visit Narbonne.\u00a0 We were in southwest France to soak up village life and to visit vineyards.\u00a0 Why spend time visiting a second-tier city that wasn\u2019t on the list of \u201cmust-see\u201d places in the country.\u00a0 But it was only a short drive from where we were staying and so why not?\u00a0 It would … Continue reading Narbonne<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1430,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions\/1430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}