Auberge Côté Jardin, Conilhac

As the flights and house rental dates didn't quite match, we spent the last 2 nights of our holiday in a little hotel in Conilhac-Corbières, called "Auberge Côté Jardin". Brendan had found it on the web, and we were not sure what to expect. We had gone for a rekkie a few days before leaving our house in Montséret (without actually going into the hotel). It was on the main road going through Conilhac, a small village just outside Lézignan-Corbières, and we were a bit concerned about the noise, but decided to go ahead with it, as our stay was over the weekend, and there would be no trucks on the roads (thanks to French laws!).


There is nothing much to do in Conilhac, and it's cut in two by the main road, but it's quite pretty once you get away from the D6113. There are a few walks up towards the hills, and a few pretty spots around the town itself, but I wouldn't spend more than a couple of days there (I personally think that Montséret is a lot nicer as there is hardly any traffic through it). It's close enough to the Canal du Midi, where you will find plenty of scenic little towns for lunch or just a stroll, which is what we did (more about that some other time).


We were very pleasantly surprised by the hotel- small (8 rooms), bijou hotel with good staff and delicious food. The whole hotel looks away from the road, towards the vineyards and the hills of the Corbières, and you forget about the road the moment you walk in. Our room was very quiet, had a good bed, nicely-designed bathroom and all the mod-cons. There was a modern pool area within the old walls, and a lovely terrace for pre-dinner drinks. We enjoyed our food both nights - the menu "Saveurs" in particular, and the Maylandie rosé from Ferrals-les-Corbières, a small town nearby. We drove by the Maylandie domain more or less every day - that's why I chose it on the wine list. (Interesting fact from the website: their vines are between 3 and 80 years old!). Service was excellent, very professional and warm at the same time. L'Auberge Côté Jardin is a small family business and it shows. Great attention to detail and I highly recommend the chocolate muffins for breakfast!


PS: I've just found out why 2 men were measuring a wall on the side of the road in Conilhac last weekend, a behaviour that I thought was a bit strange. There is an outside art exhibition starting soon, "L'art dand le ruisseau" taking place on the walls lining the small river going through the town - no water going through at this time of the year, and the river bed is one of these man-made ones you see going through towns prone to flooding. They must have been measuring how much space they had for putting up their paintings!

(PS PS: no pictures for now - I can't get Blogger to bring up the "Add Image" page)