A PARTY TO WHICH WE WERE NOT INVITED

OCTOBER 6, 2007

As the sun begins it downward slide, we are off toward home, about a two hour drive.
But never fear; there are still road we have not yet traveled and explored. Just east of Limoux we found an exceptionally pretty side road (D104) which took us up to Saint-Hillaire d'Aude. This is an abbey founded in the 8th century by the Benedictine monks who invented the bubbly Blanquette de Limoux. A graceful, double columned Gothic cloister has survived along wih the Romansque Abbey Church. We arrived just a few minutes after the closing of the abbey, so we did not get to see the inside of the church/chapel which houses the white marble sorcophogus of St. Sernin, died 250AD, the patron saint of Toulouse.

At the east end of the cloister a group of people were having a party...no we did not crash....but we did find out the event being held was an art of Christian art.

As we left the village, I spotted olive trees growing along the side of the road. They
were loaded with olives to be harvested next year. We stopped, I looked, touched and tasted a green olive. I can say the processing certainly improves the flavor and makes them edible.... They are not a good fresh fruitbut as we say...it's the journey, not the destination.


Judy