Chalabre, The Backdrop to the Festival
The bastide town was largely built in the 14th Century and nestles in the foothills of the Pyrenees, whose peeks, oft covered in snow, draw your eyes to the distant horizon to the south. The original medieval village experienced serious flooding in 1279, and it was deemed necessary to ‘raise’ the level of the houses that border the three rivers (L’Hers, Le Blau, & Le Chalabriel) that meet in the south west corner of the town, adjacent to L’Oasis, the home and garden that forms the focal point for the festival.
The bastide wall has long since given way to the road that wraps around the central part of Chalabre, and houses many of the shops and bars that form the backdrop for people to linger away an afternoon or evening, though it’s no more than a ten minute able round most of the central citadel.
Whereas many of these rural and underpopulated towns and villages in the Aude have long since lost their shops, presenting an almost eerie quality as you drive through, Chalabre, the ancient capital of the Quercob, is teeming in comparison.
To begin with, there’s two bars and a hotel; Café de la Paix, run and owned by Manu, on the West side, usually opens for your morning coffee, and lunch, it’s a bar with a pool table in the evening; on the east side is Café des sports, run by Valentin, prix fix lunches and tables outside. Both bars are popular with the locals and visitors. Opening hours for both bars are a mystery and appear random, but if one isn’t open then it’s a fairly safe bet that the other will be. The hotel , Hotel de France, on the East side, as is Valentin’s, also has a bar and great value lunches and, as you would expect, reasonably priced rooms. In all of these hostelries, un ‘demi’ of biere is €2.50, and a carafe of wine isn’t much more then €7…..for the price of a London cocktail, you will feel light of foot as you meander home.
The Boulangerie, Le Fournil, a few houses down from Manu’s is a treat, and, this isn’t the ‘demis’ talking, the croissants are without peer, as is the fifteen or so different types of baguette on offer; it is strongly recommended to leave any wheat allergies at the border, or ignore, it’s worth it.
Across the road is Le Bonne Sausicon, one of two butchers, their pate de la maison is ideal for the riverbank, and there is L’Entrecote, run by brothers Frederic & Sebastien, whose lamb and rib of beef will be featuring at the festival, so draw your own conclusions about the quality.
For your greens to go with your meat and bread, there’s also a Carrefour Supermarket run by 3 brothers, that are passionate about the local produce; the fruit and veg smells and tastes like it’s been dug and plucked only a few hours ago, and there’s a fish table on Fridays where oysters come by the box, and cost no more than a pack of Gauloises. Of equal quality, and focusing solely on fresh fruit and veg, cheese and wine (little else needed other than bread), is the Primeur in the heart of the bastide and just round the corner from the Pharmacy; probably the only ‘shop’ that doesn’t sell wine.
The village also has a hairdresser, pharmacist, bank/cash machine, doctors’ surgeries, the obligatory tabac, and a flower/funeral parlour combo neither of which requires a mandatory visit, all being well.
It’s more experiential than functional to visit any of these places, and it’s recommended to do it at a slow steady pace in order to cram in as much as possible……or you can just have a wonder around, and stare up at the foliage of the plane trees that encircle the roads around. As you do, looking to the North, you’ll see the Chateau on the hill to the right, and Le Chapelle to the left which is a short but puff inducing walk, though the view down to the village, and the Pyrenees to the far south is…breath-taking (it cannot be described any other way).
The town, although it has a village quality, draws you in, and when it’s time to leave it’s a fair bet that a hefty number of you will have at least thought about a bolt hole here….for those that have and done, there is no regret.
