Beziers Color

One of the flower market vendors

Love this color

Ever since coming here, I have wanted to see the Friday flower market in Beziers.  I can't believe that it has taken me so long to get there, but I finally managed it yesterday.  I wanted to see not only the flower market, but I wanted to pay a visit to the Office of Tourism to get some information about a visit to the bell foundry and museum in Herepian, a village a little to the north of Beziers.  And while in Beziers, of course there is always a new lunch adventure and I wanted to see the Church of the Magdalene.  It was enough to fill a day without running myself ragged, and I am all in favor of that.

Ready to go into the ground

I think this is almond, but am not sure

So, off we went, my friend Susan and I, on the 10:11 train from Carcassonne to Beziers, with a brief stop and train change in Narbonne.  I think Narbonne is like the Atlanta airport--no matter where you are going, you have to change in Narbonne.  Normally I like to leave earlier and come home earlier, but I am trying to be more flexible.  We were due home on the 5:36 train out of Beziers, with a change--you guessed it--in Narbonne.

Welcome to Beziers

Park right across the street from the station's front door

My first impressions of Beziers shouldn't count.  With hardly an exception, the area immediately surrounding a train station has a certain grittiness to it and it's not fair to judge the entire city by the train station.  There was a gilt-edged gate right across the street--the entrance to the park of the Plateau des Poetes....with a statue of an angel who seems to be checking to see if her deodorant has worn off.  But the rest of the area was predictably gritty.

Did my deodorant wear off/

The climb is pretty steep from the bottom of the hill, where the train arrives, to the top, where the old city is located.  There were numerous large public works projects underway--one of the main squares was torn to hell and gone.  We were in search of the flower market, on Allees Paul Riquet, and it might have been easier to find were it not for all the barriers placed in the constructions zones.  Or if one of us had actually had a map!

Row upon row of ranunculus--big as softballs

Mimosa yellow

Forsythia yellos

But really, there wasn't any getting lost--the town is just not that large.  It is a little confusing because there are not a lot of "cross streets."  The city feels like a circulade--the streets going in sort of circles with openings out into public plazas every few blocks. In old-town, the streets are much narrower than the ones here in the Bastide.  But what struck me most forcefully was how deserted the town was.  Street after street was empty, shuttered and silent.  Even the area around the post office, which is Carcassonne is always buusy, had maybe only a dozen people coming and going.

Tempting African violets

We did get to the flower market, and after an underwhelming start, it became more interesting and colorful.  Tray after tray of pristine primroses burst with color.  The end where we started our walk through contained mostly live plants for outdoor gardens.  There were plenty of fruit trees, and forsythia, olive trees ready for planting.  Flats of plants with bronze and dark leaves added color and interest.

A trayful of violas

Snapdragons--one of my favorites

Then we came upon the cut flowers--roses of all colors.  Tables full of tulips of all sizes and colors...I wanted to take home an armful, but not enough to carry them around all day.  I was able to maintain my resolve until I came across the daffodils.  I just had to have some.  I was going to come back and buy them but the vendor said they might not be here and she would hold them.  I didn't want to have to carry them around all day.

My bouquet of jonquils--tables around the market and Galleries Lafayette just over my left shoulder

There are lots of brasseries and restaurants that border the Allees Paul Riquet so we went in search of lunch.  We ended up in a little Italian themed place.  Lasagna for me and pizza for Susan, each of us having a glass of house red.  Dessert for her, coffee for me.  It was delicious, warm, and filling.  Could not have asked for more, except maybe an outdoor table.  Some intrepid diners were taking advantage of the sunshine, even if it seemed a little on the chilly side.

After lunch we had a quick swing through Galleries Lafayette--I was in search of Maison, and Susan in search of a new winter coat.  Both of us came away empty-handed.  But it was fun to look.

I picked up my daffodils and had a delightful chat with the women who were there.  One of the things I love most is the way by-standers join right into the conversations.  When I told them that jonquils were the flowers of my childhood and reminded me of my grandmother, they told me that the Fete du Grandmeres is next weekend and the emblematic flower is--jonquils.  It was such a pleasant exchange.

We then proceeded to the Tourist Information Office, which was only about 3 blocks away.  I wanted to gather any brochures from tour companies who offer vans and will take tourists out to vineyards or to smaller towns not served by the train.  We have a couple of companies here in Carcassonne that provide such a service, surely there must be similar enterprises in Beziers.  Again, i came away empty-handed as far as company advertising brochures went, but with an armload of information provided by the ladies at the Tourism Office.  They printed off the bus schedules to take me not only to Pezenas but all the way to Herepian.  They pointed me in the direction of the gare routiere, the local bus station.  I might just take a moment to say that riding the bus here doesn't carry the stigma that riding the bus in the US brings with it.  Not everyone here has a car--they are expensive to operate and insure, impossible to park and with such good public transportation, not really necessary. 

So I now have all the information I need now for a day trip to check out the bells before my guests arrive later in the year.  The women in the Tourist Office were eager to share information about all of the activities humming in Beziers during tourist season--there's a section of the Plateau des Poetes that holds dances from the turn of the century...like the dances on the boats here or in Paris used to be held.  Think of Renoir's famous painting of the dance at the windmill.....I am definitely going to Beziers to see that!

My jonquils at home

I can't stop smiling