Booking time at the Vineyard...

(The central courtyard of the Chateau de Montlaur...in winter)

As you can see the accommodations at the Chateau are light and breezy...just kidding!  While you can certainly stay up among the ruins for a time an overnight sojourn is not recommended just yet.  Perhaps in a few years when we start to rebuild certain parts and sections but for now its an archeologists dream...unsurveyed ruins.

There is however, ample comfortable lodging in the area starting with the farmhouse (a mere 200 meters from the frosty accommodations above.  Work of renovation on the farmhouse is proceeding at a slow pace but it will have comfortable living space (if simple and rustic is your idea of comfortable) for between 2-6 people by this summer.  All the basic amenities are in place for members to enjoy with plans for key additions to the wine cellar and grounds dependent upon continued subscription for Micro-Leases.

Additionally, the first commissioned gypsy carts should make their appearance this summer as long as the completion of the supply and waste lines meets schedule.  That should be sometime in April.  

The mainstay of accommodation for the vineyard are the local gites.  Even with this economy they are booking up fast although we may be able to find you something that works for your visit.   A "gites" is a small apartment with all amenities, self contained and self catered.  They generally charge differentially by season with the summer being the highest cost.  There are many around Montlaur but the area is a popular place for Europeans to vacation and the gites book up very quickly.  You need to plan several months in advance and to get exactly what you want, perhaps 6-10 months pre-booking may be ideal.  For whatever reasons the economic downturn has not yet affected demand for these places, in part I think because they are so reasonably priced to start out with.  Needless to sy if you are contemplating a trip please give us as much notice as possible.

The times of year that are best for a trip of course depend upon your own tastes and preferences.  I can tell you I have been there in every part of the year and there are joys to be had no matter the season.  The wine, the cheese, the bread...they are all very affordable and in limitless supply.  I prefer October most of all because of the coolness in the air and richness of the colours.  April and May also favor the cooler weather traveler and provide for ample sun and robust activity.   June and July are very nice with the fullness of summer and festivals in every small town.   The fresh farm markets also are in full run trailing through quaint two thousand year old streets and a warren of small piazzas like rabbit burrows strung along an Alice in Wonderland like hole in the wall.

September is "les vendanges", the harvest and with it comes hard work, good food, play and much laughter.  Already a group is forming for this period so getting in early is key.  

August is good for the beaches but it is otherwise very hot.  For the last two years I was there when it was 114-120 degrees, a dry heat that sucks the very moisture from your body.  The entire summer is filled with European vacationers particularly July and August.  Even though Languedoc is not Provence or for that matter Bordeaux it still gets over run by other Europeans in the high season.  They pack the roads, fill the gites and hotels, swarm the restaurants and generally resemble more a plague of locusts than civilized members of society.  Which is not to say that this is a bad thing...it is what it is and there are certainly good things to enjoy about it....who doesn't like a party?  But best you know about it before you come to stand in line.

November, December and January are the quietest and I secretly dream of the tranquility of the "alone-ness" of the place during these months.  It is then a time when I can turn my favourite music up full blast and work on the place, enjoying the glow of a warm fire and the comradeship that the old farm house bestows on me and mine.  There are cold blustery days where its best to keep the fire charged up and the soup hot in the pot.  And then there are days as warm and sunny as summer, where the cooling stones take back some measure of warmth from the oncoming winter.  Dress warm, walk often, take your camera.

That leaves February and March.  I leave this week for France and the farmhouse.  I expect it will be spring already there and the buds will be appearing on the trees.  There is much to do to prepare for the life of the farmhouse and I feel these are the months for that.  Cleaning the floors, sweeping out the cobwebs, repairing windows and doors and finishing renovations started on the last trip.  Thats what these months are for and I lust after them with the same desire I would reach for a good bottle of wine.  We are informed as much about who we are by what it is we choose to do, not because we have to but because we want to.  I am, in my way, the same as my friend, Jean de Montlaur whose family has called this place home for more than a thousand years, I am about fixing things and making them anew.  This is where I find my joy in life and this is how I want to share it.