Babies in the garden

I have two nests in the garden – well actually, one is in a hole in the stone wall, the other is in a crevice above one of the beams in the garage. I know very little about birds but have it on good authority that they’re Black Redstarts. 

And they’re cute – although they have made rather a mess in the garage, and now that they’re flying, both the floor and my car are copping it. 

I’m amazed at the amount of food the babies are consuming. There were three, there now only appears to be two. The parents are constantly back and forth with insects all day long. One day, a butterfly about half the size of the bird itself was on the menu – I have no idea how they would have dealt with the wings.

The nest in the wall is not showing much activity at the moment – so either it's been abandoned or the eggs aren't yet hatched.

It was yesterday morning that the two in the garage took their maiden flight. And the timing couldn’t have been worse. 

I was packing the car up at about 8.30am getting ready for the weekly group walk/picnic when I nearly trod on this little guy on the ground at the garage door. He’d obviously only just made it thus far, and I think he was a little stunned. 

I raced back and got my camera and as can be seen in the short video clip below, his second flight was from there to the top of my car, where he stayed. 


  

A frantic phone call to Nic – who came to quickly close the garage doors as I departed to make sure it didn’t fly out into the street, where I think it would have been doomed.

On the car roof ....

Anyway, as I type (a day later) they’re flying around from place to place in the courtyard and looking extremely content and well-fed. I do hope they stay around for a while longer.

And the walk that followed this encounter was lovely. It’s one Caroline introduced me to over a year ago - what we now call "The Visigoth Walk". I’d finally convinced Claude that this would be a great walk for the group – three amazing things to see en route – Chateau Villarlong, the 11th century church, and the graves of the Visigoths. 

I think it's fair to say that there was a little initial reluctance – it was outwith the usual areas we normally travel to, and it was ‘unknown’ to all the local and regular walkers. So when he agreed, I was told I was ‘the chef’. No pressure then. 

Given we felt a bit under the hammer, Caroline and I decided to do a test walk the weekend before – to see if the road was passable to access the shady churchyard for the picnic lunch. The year before, I'd managed to get my car through, but it was a bit difficult. And I’d rashly promised this ‘amazing setting under the trees next to an ancient church’ for the group picnic. 

Well, things didn’t go quite to plan. I’d forgotten I was away that weekend and so Caroline and Trevor did the recce walk. Unfortunately it turned out the stretch of road was in worse condition and the cars wouldn’t have been able to get through to the church. And the rest of the walk was a little short on places where there was enough room for 10 to 15 cars, AND shade for the picnic.

So after the hectic start to the morning dealing with fledglings and trying to get away on time, we had the worry of leading a convoy of cars to parts unknown, on a walk where I’d promised an amazing picnic venue – knowing that when we arrived (very windy and 33 degrees forecast) - I would need to tell them we were reverting to Venue (b) – parking off the side of the road with limited shade.

Anyway, it was all taken with good humour – no problems – and the best thing is that everyone thought the walk and things we saw were amazing – we got compliments all along the way, AND all during lunch. So, after all, it was a resounding success.

I didn’t take more photos of the church or the Visigoth graves as I’ve posted quite a few of them here before. But here’s an interesting thing about the French. Last year, Caroline and I stood meekly outside the Chateau and took a few photos of the blue sheep and the Giraffe over the fence. Not so this lot – straight in and all around the grounds, having a good look. Love it. Hence the photos below, views of the chateau not seen last year!  - including the infinity pool at the back with the most amazing views out over the valley.

Only part of the group could be rounded up for the group picture - the rest were off exploring the grounds!

The life-size metal sculpture of the giraffe is impressive - even more so, when you see the detail.

Side view of the chapel in the grounds of the chateau

The infinity pool at the back - overlooking the valley towards the east

And the good news was that when we arrived back at the cars, the sun had moved so that there was enough shade under the trees for all of our tables and chairs.

More than enough in fact, after Jacques trimmed off a few pesky low-hanging branches with a pair of huge pruning sheers he just happened to have in the back of his car.

Thereafter, all was well - the all-important aperitifs came out and the eating commenced……

Flowers and walks

I waver between saying spring is my favourite season / autumn is my favourite season. Right now when my garden’s looking good and the countryside is glorious, I’m saying spring. But come autumn …..

A short bike ride – a 6 km loop from Bize, out to the Mailhac Road, down to Cabezac and back to Bize – there’s all this:

 

Not only has the warm weather brought out all the flowers, it’s also bringing out the paragliders who launch themselves off the south-side of the Pech, using the thermals that come up from the flat plain towards Narbonne. And you often see them just hanging up there above the Pech for hours. The most I’ve seen at one time is 11, and in this photo there are 9. 

Just happened to be having a beer on Nic’s terrace at the time (fancy that), so managed to get a few shots….

And flowers from my courtyard, taken over the last couple of weeks:

I think my preference for purple and white flowers is coming through somewhat...

Now, if only I could get my soup-green fish pond back to its usual clear state, ‘all would be well in the garden’.

Two walks over the last few weeks at new locations – one at Mailhac, only a few kms from Bize, and the other down on the coast near Fleury and St Pierre sur Mer.

At Mailhac, it was a walk starting at the village itself and up a hill where there are remains of a late bronze-age settlement - the Lou Cayla – not yet fully excavated and currently off-limits. But further on, there is the Boun Marcou dolmen. 

And then there was the long walk (3 hours/new-ish walking shoes/blisters!) between Fleury and St Pierre sur Mer where the Gouffre de l'oeil doux can be found.

L'oeil doux is a deep water-filled hole in the ground – the result of a limestone collapse. 

The walk started off through lovely pines, and then later over scrubland where the wildflowers – including wild lavender – were just lovely. 

Well, why didn’t I take more photos? I think I was too busy whinging about my sore feet. But I did take some of the L'oeil doux itself.

And here are a couple of Google Earth shots – showing it close to St Pierre sur Mer (rapidly growing with new-builds) and less than one kilometre from the Mediterranean.

L'oeil doux - top left hand corner

At least it wasn’t too hot and we were close enough to the sea to get a cool breeze – and of course the walk followed by the usual very convivial picnic lunch under trees. We really felt we’d earned this one. 

There was a slight downside though – at the car park, three cars had had their windows broken and things had been stolen. Luckily, mine wasn't one of them. Unfortunately, one of the cars did belong to one of our group – so a bit of a dampener after a lovely morning. 

Though the ever-cheerful Pierre took it in his stride. Before heading home to deal with what needed to be done to sort the damage to the car, stolen wallet, mobile phone etc., there was the all-important lunch to be had first. 

Priorities......

Snakes alive ....

Since the flood on the 16th March, most of the pools left at the edges of the river and in the vineyards have dried up. Nic and I and the kids have managed to rescue quite a few fish in the last couple of weeks and have returned them to the river. 

Under the bridge, there's one large pool that’s been slowly shrinking – the smaller it gets, the easier it is to scoop the fish and at the moment it’s less than a metre across.

And the other day, we saw a little snake there, not doing a lot. And then today, Nic rang frantically to come down as it was still there and was trying to catch fish! So I raced down and actually managed to get it on video – the very moment when he actually caught a fish! Talk about luck with the timing ……….

 
Now the unfortunate thing is that when I moved on the rocks as he was crawling away with it in his mouth, I must have frightened him and he dropped the fish on a rock and headed back to the water. I put the fish back in the water, and despite him probably wondering what the hell had hit him, he swam away. Though probably only to be eaten at some time in the very near future.

The good news is that the snake wasn’t too rattled by it all, as five minutes later he’d caught another one – really! 

We couldn’t believe our luck at seeing all this close up, right in front of our eyes. He’s in snake heaven – captive prey with nowhere to go and obviously fairly easy to catch. No wonder he’s in no hurry to go back to the river where I imagine their meals aren’t this easily come by.

With just the tail sticking out of his mouth, and a swollen neck - he's all but managed to get it down

Now, while the snake wasn’t all that rattled by our presence and talking, there was a moment when I got a little jittery.

As I straddled a rock, taking the video, with my feet very close to where the snake was under the ledge, Nic calmly informs me that there are now TWO snakes - one near my left foot. I’m not really nervous of these snakes as they’re [supposedly] not poisonous, at least not like those we have in Australia, but it did give me a bit of a start. Warning – a little blasphemy - though those who know me know that it could have been a whole lot worse… 

And below are a few photos of the new clean river bed – all the weeds and gravel of previous years’ motocross well and truly washed away, and hundreds (thousands?) of tonnes of smooth river stones deposited here. 

It’s looking pristine and gorgeous – and we’re hoping that there will be no motocross this year. I think it would be a crying shame to cover the washed river stones with brown gravel that will change the river from this:

back to this:

Given that the river rarely flows enough to clean it out like this - and even more rarely has floods like we’ve just experienced - we could be stuck with the “gravel-look” for many years to come. I’m trying to find out if any moves/suggestions have been made to have the motocross at another venue this year.

Back to the flood: 

I notice on the Maire’s website there is an article on the 16th March floods:

Floods
"Out of the blue... A flood level higher than that of 1999. At Bize-Minervois, the night of Tuesday 15th to Wednesday 16th March was terrible. No one lost their life but 47 homes and 4 business premises were swamped with mud. Not even the dental surgery escaped the rising waters. Below the village, on the Promenade, on the bank of the Cesse, muck and faces marked by shared suffering. 

In the morning, at around 4.00am, yesterday, the river was roused from its slumbers and burst its banks. 

For the owner of the cafe, Michel Gleizes, it was a catastrophe. His doors, poorly protected, gave way under the force of the water. In the other houses, with well sealed doors, the mud came in through the drains. "On average we had a meter of water in people's homes" noted Mayor Alain Fabre.  

This time, unlike 1999, the residents of Bize were prepared for the worst. The Commune's protection plan was rolled out in time. "We have been watching events since Saturday. We are members of the "protect" network, so we knew what our village was exposed to. As a precautionary measure, we went ahead with evacuations and asked residents to protect their houses as much as possible." 

At Bize, the Mayor and his constituents are aware that a disaster has been avoided. "There is muck in several streets and mud in the houses but no lives were lost. It will take us three or four weeks to clean it all up but at least we can breathe a sigh of relief" emphasises Alain Fabre. "Although the Cesse reached a level of 4.03 meters, a level higher than in 1999, this time there was no tidal wave effect. Luckily, otherwise..." 

In recent years in this area significant works have been carried out by the communal water management group. Experience also played its part. As did solidarity. Here neighbours, friends, family members came to each other's aid and comfort. The communes of Argeliers and Sallelès, as well as Greater Narbonne have given Bize logistical support. 

"And let's not forget the extremely effective action of our firemen" concluded Alain Fabre.

Source : L'Indépendant

17 mars 2011

an article by Nicolas Boussu

Springs and Caves / La Douze and Les Grottes

About two kilometres from Bize-Minervois, on the road to Agel, is a warm spring at the base of rocky hills, called La Douze, or sometimes just La Source (the spring). 

It’s only metres off the edge of the road, next to rows of vines. It doesn’t run all year – roughly from October/November through to about August, when it appears to exhaust all the underground water until the rains come again and fill up whatever underground storage system there is. 

Not only is it stunningly beautiful, it’s fascinating because the water is warm. Well, tepid to warm – quite a few degrees warmer than the Cesse, which because of ITS mysterious underground meanderings, is very cold all year around. 

La Douze runs several hundred metres along the base of the rocky hill, in channels that over the years have been reinforced. It then runs under the road and finally joins up to the River Cesse. Because the hills are obviously still saturated from all the rain, it’s putting out lots of at the moment.

Nic and I went for a walk there the other day, and chose the difficult - i.e. overgrown and very prickly side - to trace its length back to where it gushes out of the rocks. The going got quite tough and we were all but on our knees. Nic jokingly said we might need to de-tick ourselves when we came through at the other end. It wasn’t a joke – while I missed out on any, she managed to pick up five that were on the leg of her pants – luckily they hadn’t yet managed to latch on to any flesh! Yuck …. ghastly things. I would have taken a photo of the little buggers if she hadn’t been a little [read ‘quite’] frantic trying to get them off. She had the job of then going back home and de-ticking the dog.

The waterweed and the algae that grow on the bottom make for such amazingly bright colours. 

These photos are exactly as I took them – it really looks like an artificial environment, but it’s all real. There are frogs here, but no fish because it’s bone dry for part of the year. 

Between the course of La Douze and the base of the limestone rocks are ancient caves – les Grottes de Bize or sometimes called La Grande Grotte de Tournal a Bize, named after Paul Tournal of Narbonne who found the first human bones in the caves. 

They were at one time occupied by Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon – items that have been found in the cave have been dated at more than 30,000 years.

An informative article (already translated into English) can be found on the Bize-Minervois Maire’s own website - here.