Toques et Clochers

Every year on the weekend before Easter the local area is a buzz with the event Toques et Clochers, meaning 'chef's hat and Church towers', which is a celebration of wine and local communities.

Run by local wine producer Sieur D'Arques for 24 years, the festival promotes white wines from different vineyard growing regions, including Houte Valley, Auton, Oceanic and Mediterranean, and takes place in two parts.

The first is a festival and community celebration held on the Saturday, with a town or village in the area coming alive with festivities. The event is hosted by a different village each year, and the celebration is an opportunity for visitors to taste some of the best wine from the surrounding regions.

The second part of the event comes in the form of an auction for international wine buyers held on the Sunday, with barrels of the wine being auctioned off and part of the proceeds going to fund the restoration of the bell tower in the Cathedral in the town where the event is held. Some of the world's top chefs and sommeliers are invited to the event to give their opinion on the wines, which I'm told can sell for five figures per barrel at the auction.

With the formalities of the event obviously of no interest to us, we decided to take in the community celebration and head out to the two villages which this year shared the event, Gardie and Villebazy.

We arranged to meet some friends at the local sports hall, where we could catch transport to the festival. We paid 5Euro each, which included the bus transport and a souvenir wine glass. The ride out to the small villages was picturesque, with the large bus navigating the narrow roads through the countryside.

We arrived at the village of Gardie, and were dropped off about one kilometre from the town. We walked up the small winding road and came to the village, which was decorated with oversized flowers and grapes, and had a number of strange mannequin displays throughout the village.

The music began as we wandered past a colourful band departing from the Mediterranean wine stand. As we continued up the hill we stopped for a photo opportunity with a very large Blanquette bottle, and I purchased some tokens, which could be exchanged for a full glass of wine at any of the wine stands.

This town was relatively quiet however, so we took some advice from a local and headed over to the second village, Villebazy, where the action was about to start. On our way out of Gardie I stopped for my first glass of wine, which was of the Mediterranean variety, and had quite a nice flavour; not too sweet, but not dry.

The buses ran between the villages, again dropping us about a kilometre from the action. We wandered through the countryside and came upon a much livelier atmosphere.  Groups of colourfully dressed yet uniformed people were lined up down the narrow road, waiting patiently for the parade to start.

Each group had with them a miniature model of their local Church or Cathedral, which were all impressive. We wandered by each group, recognising a number of the churches from around the local area, taking photos of the ones we knew, and some we didn't but were impressive all the same.

The parade was about to commence, but having seen all of the groups we decided to avoid the crowds, head toward the food stalls and wander through the village. I filled up on frites (hot chips) while Marty devoured a beef-filled baguette as we walked to the next wine stand.

This one was from the region around Auton, and the people serving us spoke English. We stopped for talk for a while, finding out that the lady was actually Swedish, but spoke very good English, with a strange mix of an English and an Australian accent. We chatted for some time, as she gave us advice on the best wines to buy and where we could get them in Limoux.

With food in our bellies and more wine in my hand we walked the streets and came across the parade as it was making its way toward the village Church. Crowds of people lined the path as the groups with their models squeezed through a small laneway and up the hill. We followed the crowds and, as they dispersed either into the Church or back down into the village, we headed to an open field area that was set up for the party that would no doubt continue into the night.

Food stands were selling crepes, meat on a baguette, and huge baked spuds, which I was excited by, only to discover I had to eat it dry as it didn't come with sour cream. A large bar selling only Blanquette catered to the crowds, who were buying it by the glass or jug.

A soloist provided some entertainment, alternating between a banjo and a guitar as he tried to sing English songs, which I must admit sounded very different with a French accent! During his breaks a band would take to the stage, but their song choices left me a bit confused (I'm pretty sure the song 'Do you really want to hurt me?' hasn't been played since the '80s, excluding the film The Wedding Singer, which was set in the '80s anyway!).

Entertainment aside, we enjoyed the food and the wine and the atmosphere of being in a paddock amongst the hills in the French countryside, still lit by the sun's light at 7pm. We had had enough though when the weather turned cold, and decided to catch the bus back into Limoux to retire to the warmth of our house. All in all, it was a great outing and a unique French experience that we really enjoyed.