Domaine La Grange english

A refreshing stop on the ralley circuit

The classic car ralley 'Le Circuit des Coteaux Languedociens à Cassan' is organized by the Herault region center of tourism. La Grange offered a refreshing stop on their circuit.

To the moon in half an hour

Unlike the european spacecraft Rosetta you don't need ten years to travel to and enjoy a lunar landscape when you're at La Grange.

At the small town of Mourèze, about half an hour away from La Grange, you can admire a bizarre moonscape, formed over thousands of years from the native limestone. This place is of a strange beauty, in many ways not unlike the pictures we get from Rosetta.

Another sensational discovery: various caves and huts prove that this lunar landscape was evidently home to humans over thousands of years.

Today, even modern communication is possible here. Armed with a portable phone you can easily stay connected to the outer world.

Medieval Circular Villages (Circulades) around La Grange

One of the tourist attractions around La Grange are the medieval circular villages called 'Circulades'. They have been built in concentric circles, a bit like a snail's shell. The region's aristocrat or noble built his castle on top of a hill and the peasants built their homes all around the castle.

In the event of an attack, the villagers could seek shelter in the castle, often using subterranean passageways leading from the village to the castle. Tourists often fall in love with these medieval houses, they find them to be very romantic. In Fouzilhon, our neighboring village, many Swiss and English bought old houses and renovated them lovingly. The locals often prefer modern houses on the outskirts of town.

Because what seems romantic to tourists and summer guests was part of a harsh life for the locals: The narrow houses often have three storeys, which can be very tiring for the elderly. On top of that the staircases deteriorated through years and years of use and, more often than not, have become quite an obstacle course. There was no central heating, of course, and winters here in Languedoc can be rather cold. So compared to that, a ground-level house with central heating is pure luxury!

Pilgrimage routes to La Grange - via the Château-Abbaye de Cassan

There are many pilgrimage routes to Santiago di Compostella in the north of Spain; one of them was very close to La Grange.

The footsore and weary pilgrims stopped at Château-Abbaye de Cassan, just one kilometer away from La Grange, to be nursed and cared for before they would continue their arduous journey.

The old pharmacy at the Château-Abbaye is well worth a visit and the many medicinal herbs still on display bear witness to the knowledge and skill of the resident monks. Every night they would light a fire in the big old tower so that even the last of the lost sheep would find their way to the safety of the monastery.

Before the french revolution the estate was so magnificent that people called it the Versailles of Languedoc. This glory has somewhat faded but it's still worth a visit today. If you are planning to visit the region you can find more information about Cassan and it's events here. And if you won't make it to France any time soon, you can still admire Cassan on this virtual tour.

Old Table at La Grange

The organization 'Old Tablers Germany' is present in many german cities, Bielefeld included. If you would like to read more about this organization and it's goals, you can visit their website.

A little while ago they travelled to La Grange, curious about the winery and it's grounds. A total of 18 friends from Old Table 71 Bielefeld came to visit us and enjoyed Rolf's expertly conducted guided tour through the vineyards.

But a guided tour through the vineyards was by no means all we did together. The medieval town of St. Guilhelm le Désert, Pézenas and Carcassonne were just some of the sights in the vicinity of La Grange that we visited together. The most important part of the journey though was a picnic at the beach with good food and a good wine from La Grange of course.

We would like to thank our visitors and hope they had as much fun as we did.