Backfire

Don and Ian told us that nearby Villafranche has one of the best markets in France every Thursday. So we decided to stick around and check it out. After all, we're here, and I love a good market.

And I have to say that one unforseen result of all this property searching around Lodeve while using Lodeve for a base is that I'm startiing to really dislike Lodève compared to many of the places in which we're searching.

This is a not a new feeling; even last year we were uncertain that we found Lodeve charming enough to make our home; yet other factors led us here, including "S" and the region in general, and so I've gotten to know it a bit. And the more I know it, the less I'm in love with it.

It's not an ancient and charming town. It was razed during the Huguenot revolt, and so lost a lot of the ancient stoniness that many other towns have. there are old buildings, to be sure, but sandwiched between newer constructions, mostly only a few hundred years old if that. The general appearance is a little run-down, a little uncared-for. On a grey day it can be downright depressing. Not to mention the vast proliferation of cinderblock-built villas dotting like pox all the surrounding hillsides.

Also, where other towns in the area have large pedestrian areas, lots of windy streets devoid of cars and full of explorable magic and charm, Lodève only has one such road. Pity. A by-product of reconstruction, I guess. But a shame.

Also, it seems to me that -- and I say this in the most objective possible way -- Lodeve is something of a lower-middle-class place. This is reflected in the buildings, but also in quality of the products available here. The clothing shops, the supermarket, the general boutiques, they all sell a lesser level of goods which in some of the richer towns and cities we've seen wouldn't be so noticable among all the nice windows and posh shops. But here the posh shops are noticably absent. Everything here seems a little cheaper.

Maybe it's just got a population so inured to its environment that no one notices the low-end-ness of it? But Brits seems to love it here. They flock to it. Why?

Of course there are things I like about it too; there are a few very good shops, the butcher, the bakery. There are some very friendly people, especially the teachers at Kepler's school, who love him; and "S" and "D" and Carlos and several others we've met. Of course there are nice people everywhere. But the town? I've seen much better. I do like Lodeve; I just don't love it. There's nothing about it I love. No thing.

The supermarket in Lodeve is terrible.

But the real capper is the Saturday market. If the outdoor market made up for the indignity of the Super-U, that would be something... but I hate the Lodeve market. One of the primary reasons we chose France as a destination is the food, but the marche here leaves both Sarah and I so cold that we're reluctant to even go. Bits of it are nice, but it's just not very big, and it's 70% cheap clothing and crap and craft (ie crap), and the food is sort of tacked on as an afterthought.

So what has sparked this anti-Lodeve rant? Well in part it's just been building up, but also the market here in Villefranche.

I was reminded of what we're missing being in Lodève.

Villfranche itself is so gorgeous. Truly old and beautiful and charming, with all the wander factor of an ancient pedestrian city center. Magnificent stone facades down every windy little alleyway. And the market.

Incredible. Lively. Colorful. Flowers and vegetables and cheese and fish and bread and everything. An expanded, improved, correct version of what we get in Lodeve. Live trout. Whole tunas. Live chickens and rabbits. Bags of colorful spice. Huge sacks of grain. And more than one of every stall. Choice. Variety. Competition. And wanderability, since the market wends its way through the narrow byways of the town.

Sorry. I'm ranting and gushing at the same time. Anyway, Villefranche solidified my issues with Lodeve.

So why do we stay in Lodeve then? A couple reasons. First of all, Kepler's in school, which he loves. Also, Sarah really loves the land around Lodeve, if not the town itself. It's dry. She says the land surrounding Villefranche reminds her of Scotland. Of course in my experience, nearly every landscape on earth reminds her of Scotland somewhere or another... And then there's the car situation, which, until resolved, keeps us in Lodeve.

But Sarah realizes that the landscape isn't everything, and while Lodeve doesn't grate on her nerves like is does on mine, she agrees that in certain areas, particularly food, it is somewhat lacking.

So that's it. As soon as we get a car, we're going to look farther afield. But when's that going to happen? I don't know.

And now that I've vented a little bit about our hometown of late, maybe I'll start to feel a little better about it... well, we'll see...