The Village
Caunes-Minervois
is a peaceful village with an 11th century Abbey, roughly midway
between Carcassonne with its medieval city, and Narbonne on the Mediterranean
coast. Caunes-Minervois has kept its medieval and renaissance heart, old stones,
pretty squares, fountains and a hump-back bridge. It’s a tranquil place filled
with odd corners and old chaps chatting outside the café.
It has a couple of
restaurants, a café, baker, grocer, bank and pharmacy, and a weekly market.
Behind Caunes the Black Mountains stand clear. For those who like to walk or
hike or just wander, for hours, or days, the Black Mountains behind Caunes are
one of the extraordinary pleasures and secrets of
Southern France.
This is wine
country, and La Livinière, a nearby village, is producing some of the best
Languedoc appellations. There are small and large producers, co-ops and chateaux
in almost every direction. And the vignerons love you to drop in and taste their
wines. Caunes is on the Mediterranean plain that stretches to the Pyrenees and
the sea. The nearest beaches are about 45 minutes away. The Canal du Midi, in
all its lovely length, is close by and so is
Spain ( about 90
minutes on the autoroute)
