Les Montagnes, Mazamet
We’ve been very busy since we left the oyster farm at Mèze. We spent Monday at the aire in Marseillan Plage, which again operated on a barrier system for €10 a day, payable before entry, but well worth it, as it was only a 5 minute walk to the beach and all the restaurants and amenities in the town. Marseillan is a very lively seaside town this time of year and we made the most of the beach and the free evening entertainment.
At the very popular tapas restaurant, La Taberna
We went for a pizza at La Taberna, a Spanish tapas bar not far from the beach, where we enjoyed a nice meal serenaded by a wonderful blues singer. After our pizza (one of the best I’ve ever had) we joined the local celebrations with the equivalent of ‘The Voice’ being staged and televised from there and we got to see the contestants and vote for our choice. After that there were a couple more acts followed by the Grand Finale courtesy of Les Farfadais, an amazing group of acrobats and dancers that put on an spectacular show the likes of which we had never seen before.
The evening entertainment: Fantastic Blues singer
We felt our €10 fee for the motorhome aire really paid for itself just by the sheer quality and entertainment value of this incredible show that must be seen to be believed. See more here: https://www.facebook.com/LesFarfadais?fref=ts
So the night ended on a very high note indeed and we think we might make a point of coming here again next summer to enjoy these wonderful festivities once again.
Beautiful Marseillan promenade
After Marseillan Plage we left for Portiragnes in the Herault Department to spend a few days with Adonis’s parents and our friend and colleague Lesley, who flew from England on Wednesday 14th in order to celebrate Béziers summer festival. This was again another heck of a party and one couldn’t help but being drawn into the madness, chaos and fun of this charming city and its people.
The Saysells and Lesley enjoying a sangria at Beziers Feria
The party started with an amazing parade very much in the style of the Brazilian Carnival, with very accomplished dancers, acrobats and amazing floats delighting the crowds of holidaymakers and locals alike. We particularly enjoyed the ‘firework-spitting’ dragon accompanying what looked like Orcs from the Lord of the Rings movies: simply jaw-dropping, with men on stilts doing the most impossible somersaults.
The Parade
The Fireworks Spitting Dragon
It was actually scary!
Amazing Orcs on stilts!
A Somersaulting orc! You can just about see blur!
And more amazing contraptions!
And the Scots made it too!
Thank you for posing especially for me!
So we partied hard and joined the dancing, singing and drinking (I had never drank so much sangría in my life before) and simply had a whale of a time.
Joining in
Don’t ask me what I’m doing here: I don’t know, but it was great fun!
Whilst at Béziers, we also went to see a Flamenco Mass at the Cathedral, which was beautifully done, but after a while we started to feel a bit dizzy in the heat, surrounded by so many people, and had to leave to get some fresh air and a drink (more sangría, I’m afraid).
Delicious Sangria
While we were enjoying our cold sangría, we had the fortune of watching the beautiful Camargue horses being ridden by gorgeous young girls dressed in very showy Flamenco dresses that were a joy to see.
Flamenco dresses on Camargue horses: a perfect combination
The rest of the time we spent chilling by the pool in the ‘Saysell Villa’ in Portiragnes and walking Huntley the dog, the family gorgeous and affectionate pet.
Time to relax at the Saysell’s
We left Portiragnes this morning and headed west on the D612 all the way to Mazamet and after deciding that the aire in town wasn’t quite what we were looking for (being as it was in a car park), we came just a little bit further south on the D118 to this charming aire in the woods by the lake at Les Montagnes, which is free and has clean water and the usual emptying facilities for motorhomes.
Sunbathing after cooling swim
We’ve just had a couple of swims in the cooling lake and sunbathed for a bit. It’s much cooler here, being higher up, which is rather welcome, but I expect tomorrow we’ll be going back to higher temperatures again when we come down from the hills. We are heading for Souillac in the Lot department.
The cool motorhome aire at Montagnes
Fatima Saysell 