Cruzy is very quiet at night. You hardly hear a sound. At 6am, it all changes. The harvest has begun in earnest and the tractors in the village all start up and thunder through the village at 6am, shortly followed by mini-vans, pickups and mopeds taking the fruit pickers to the fields.
Alan's relatives arrived from the UK and we collected them bright and early from Carcassonne. Instead of taking them directly to Cruzy, we stopped in the walled city for breakfast, followed by a drive in the countryside and a visit to Minerve. They arrived in Cruzy, 6 hours after arriving in Carcassonne.
The week was spent visiting some of our favourite locations, but each time we did something slightly different. We ate in restaurants we have never visited before, and took scenic routes new to us.
The last 6 weeks have been busy for the region, with thousands of tourists on the roads and beaches. Most went home at the weekend, leaving the beaches and roads to us. We stopped at a few beaches and could not get over how quiet they were with the sun beating down on golden sands. At one beach, we were just yards away from neighbours in Cruzy, but we did not see them... we were in our own little world of sun sea and sand.
Alan's relatives arrived from the UK and we collected them bright and early from Carcassonne. Instead of taking them directly to Cruzy, we stopped in the walled city for breakfast, followed by a drive in the countryside and a visit to Minerve. They arrived in Cruzy, 6 hours after arriving in Carcassonne.
The week was spent visiting some of our favourite locations, but each time we did something slightly different. We ate in restaurants we have never visited before, and took scenic routes new to us.
The last 6 weeks have been busy for the region, with thousands of tourists on the roads and beaches. Most went home at the weekend, leaving the beaches and roads to us. We stopped at a few beaches and could not get over how quiet they were with the sun beating down on golden sands. At one beach, we were just yards away from neighbours in Cruzy, but we did not see them... we were in our own little world of sun sea and sand.
A trip to Sete followed and the views from Mount St. Clare were fantastic, once we moved away from the viewing platform. Since the platform was built the trees have grown considerably and the view has been lost. A short walk down into the forest reveals the true views of the ocean, mountains and lakes.We went to the local wine maker in the village, the home of Chateau Cruzy. We all arrived at the busiest time for the producer in the entire year, when all the local vine growers were backing up into the courtyard with about 2.5 tones of grapes each for squishing. The owner was not fazed and showed us around the production plant, allowing us to taste the freshly squeezed grape juice, which we all would have bought litters of were it on sale. In the end, we bought 5 liters of the 2005 red, pumped directly from a large wine vat into our plastic bottle, and walked away with 4 bottles that were ladled up for distribution to the local hotels.
After getting the bug, we drove up into the hills to St Jean de Minervois for a similar experience but instead of wine, we were after the aperitif, Muscat. We could easily become experts at wine tasting… we just need an allocated driver. 
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