Trip to Not Aude: Day 6 (Afternoon)
We stopped for lunch at Mirepoix. Mirepoix is a fairly ordinary sort of town, but it has something special at its center: a town square dating back to the 13th and 14th century. You can take a walk around the Place de Couverts looking at these carefully restored 13th century town houses.
An overhanging covered arcade runs all around the square, supported by timber several centuries old. There are a series of restaurants laid out along this arcade. We had lunch at one of them.
I had absolutely no intention of eating a hamburger in France, but I saw a gent at the next table polishing off an eee-normous hamburger, and when the waiter came around, I heard myself saying ' un hamburger s' il vous plait'. Luckily, it was the French version of the hamburger... a hunk of crisp country bread with a finely grilled steak and lots and lots of salad. It did not seem a travesty to order white wine with it. As I ate, I looked nervously at the timber beams overhead. I know they haven't broken in several centuries, but still...
The highlight of the square is this 15th century Maison des Consuls, and the town hall.
A second row of houses surround the town square. These date to a later epoque, probably 17th and 18th century, but they are also worth a look. Beyond that, the fortification walls of the old town.
There's also a 14th century church in the square: Cathédrale Saint-Maurice de Mirepoix
Later, somewhere along the arcade, we came across an ice-cream kiosk selling organic ice cream made from goat milk, from a nearby goat farm. All natural flavors. Coffee and Vanilla, I mean, not goat. Very gingerly, I tried a bit of the coffee flavor. It was... how shall I put it... different. It was pungent and flaky and grainy and kept getting stuck in my teeth. It takes getting used to.
We stopped for lunch at Mirepoix. Mirepoix is a fairly ordinary sort of town, but it has something special at its center: a town square dating back to the 13th and 14th century. You can take a walk around the Place de Couverts looking at these carefully restored 13th century town houses.
An overhanging covered arcade runs all around the square, supported by timber several centuries old. There are a series of restaurants laid out along this arcade. We had lunch at one of them.
The highlight of the square is this 15th century Maison des Consuls, and the town hall.
A second row of houses surround the town square. These date to a later epoque, probably 17th and 18th century, but they are also worth a look. Beyond that, the fortification walls of the old town.
There's also a 14th century church in the square: Cathédrale Saint-Maurice de Mirepoix
Later, somewhere along the arcade, we came across an ice-cream kiosk selling organic ice cream made from goat milk, from a nearby goat farm. All natural flavors. Coffee and Vanilla, I mean, not goat. Very gingerly, I tried a bit of the coffee flavor. It was... how shall I put it... different. It was pungent and flaky and grainy and kept getting stuck in my teeth. It takes getting used to.
