A day trip to Narbonne from Montpellier was high on our list when we moved to southern France. Through the interwebs Narbonne always seemed like a nice little town with a lot going for it – we were looking forward to finding out for ourselves if this was true.
Narbonne was actually one of the towns in southern France that made our short list of places to relocate to when moving from Canada. It has a nice climate, a train station with good links to Paris, Barcelona, and all over the south, relatively low cost of living, mild winters, and an excellent market that runs year-round. It’s also just a really quaint town that epitomizes what most North Americans think living in Europe should be all about. Bridges, the Canal de la Robine, a massive cathedral, a busy town square and cobblestone streets that wind between old brick buildings – Narbonne has it all.
We left Montpellier’s Saint Roch station around 9 am, arriving in Narbonne about an hour later. It was a cool January morning, 7 degrees when we arrived. Certainly warmer than what we were used to in Canada, but cool just the same.
We wandered from Narbonne’s train station towards the city centre, enjoying the bright colours of the storefronts and the little alleyways that seem to wind endlessly through the Narbonne’s old city (or as the French call it, l’écusson).
It took about fifteen minutes to make it to the main square, a place dominated by a massive city hall and cathedral. Despite it being mid-January, there were still some remnants of Christmas about.
It was busy for this time of year and we couldn’t help but notice more police around than a town like Narbonne would warrant. We looked a bit more closely…these weren’t just local police. These were special police, and military, and all kinds of unidentifiable law enforcement hanging about with serious looks on their faces and large guns slung over their shoulders. It can be a bit of a mood killer when armed serious folk look you up and down while wielding weapons.
“Must have heard I was coming to town,” I quipped to Angela.
“Maybe the president is here,” she replied, making a much more reasonable suggestion. We hadn’t heard about any dignitaries visiting the area, but then again we could hardly be classed as experts on the topic. We wandered a bit through a few shops and the mystery of the gun-wielding malcontents was soon solved:
Angela was right, almost. French Prime Minister Jean Castex was in Montpellier for the morning until early afternoon. Through the day we would see protesters, security on every corner, and his motorcade go by more than once. It made for an interesting detail but didn’t really change our day much – people in Narbonne were fairly laid back, friendly, and very helpful with or without the prime minister kicking about.
We made our way from the town square over to the river. The Canal de Robine intersects the town of Narbonne, running straight through the city center. It adds a picturesque accent to a city that already has the market cornered on picturesque.
The city has been built around the river, and in one case, directly over top of it.
We enjoyed wandering around, eventually making our way to the famous covered food market, Les Halles de Narbonne (Les Halles from here on in). Les Halles features 66 different merchants and craftsmen selling mostly food and food related items. It’s a good market – one of the best in France if their string of awards is any indication – and one that we had heard quite a bit about when we began our research on Narbonne as a potential place to live. So we were excited to finally check it out.
The market is open 365 days a year from 7 am to 2 pm. On this, a busy Saturday, the place was packed. When you first walk in the door you can smell the delicious roasted chicken, the produce, the mimosa flowers…it’s an assault on the senses in the best possible way. It’s a clean, well organized market full of vibrant colours and the positive low-key energy that most busy markets bring.
We enjoyed exploring all of the different stalls and I couldn’t resist buying some dried sausage to bring home (one of them was a three cheese blend and the other a chorizo – both were delicious). We also had a nice discussion with the owner of a fromagerie. I told him I was looking to branch out in my cheese tasting experience – I enjoy comté, but did he have anything I could try to expand my cheese palate? He got very excited and sold me a cheese called “Le Secret de Compostelle”.
When we exited the building I happily unwrapped it, ready to rock my taste buds with a new French cheese. I took my first bite and…it tasted exactly like comté! Exactly the same. No difference. A friend later told me that perhaps my cheese palate was not yet refined enough to appreciate the finer differences between Le Secret de Compostelle and comté (and he’s undoubtedly right, my palate is rubbish), but for my money they were identical. Maybe I’ll revisit this in a year and laugh at the crudeness of my cheese education so early in my first year (and I’ve probaby angered cheese purists near and far), but that’s all part of the process, I guess.
Having enjoyed the market – it definitely is worth a visit if you find yourself in Narbonne – we did a bit of window shopping and meandering. It really is a very pretty town and I can see why it’s cast a spell over so many expats and people retiring in the region.
At this point we were hungry, so we found a restaurant along the river to eat, a place called Le Rive Gauche. They had a heap of outdoor seating, which would be amazing in nicer weather, but it was cold so we opted to eat indoors. It’s a small place inside and we were ushered up a tiny rounded staircase to an upstairs eating area. The server was very nice and it wasn’t long until we were eating frites and the most amazing burgers along with a salad of fresh greens and a tasty vinaigrette.
Fed and happy, we zipped back out onto the cobblestone streets and made our way over to the town square. In front of the city hall there is – what appears to be – a big hole in the ground that exposes an old stone roadway. It’s not much to look at honestly, until you learn that the roadway is actually a small part of the Via Domitia, an ancient Roman roadway built in 118 BC. To walk on a road built more than 2000 years ago is a unique experience, and being able to do these things is a big part of the reason why we moved to Europe in the first place.
Our final stop of the day would be the Cathédrale Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur, a gorgeous gothic-style cathedral in Narbonne’s écusson. You get glimpses of the church from all over town, so it has a presence much like many cathedrals in French towns.
We made our way up the small hill leading to the back entrance. There was no one around so we weren’t sure if it was open. The sign on the door said it was, so we tried the door and sure enough it swung open. After walking through the small entryway we stepped in to the cathedral…and our jaws dropped. We’ve both been to more than our fair share of European cathedrals, so it takes a pretty spectacular church to wow us these days, but I can safely say the Cathédrale Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur is one of them.
The cathedral is a Roman Catholic building, constructed between 1272-1340 (although never completely finished). The main inner section (pictured above) is circled by outer areas – also stunning – that use stained glass, tapestries, and other means to depict various aspects of the Christian story / faith. We both found it reminescent of Notre Dame in Paris, not so much for the size of it, but more for the layout and overall style.
Our day done, we hiked back to the Narbonne train station where we had a train to catch. It had been a fantastic day and confirmed for us that Narbonne is a very nice town. We chose Montpellier to live in because it’s bigger and better connected, but if Montpellier doesn’t watch its step, Narbonne might work its way back to the top of the list!
Have you been to Narbonne? What were your impressions? Please feel free to comment below – thanks!