Fitou be tied

There. It’s out of my system. Puns aren’t my forte and I came up with nothing beyond that phrase, but it’s the first thing I thought of when I realized I’d be spending the better part of three months in this picturesque village.

I found a lovely little apartment on (Gratuitous Plug Alert) www.roomorama.com and it couldn’t suit me and my purpose any better. It’s the first time using the service for both me AND my landlords but after 16 hours, everything is swell. No oven or microwave but I’m a pretty decent cook so I’ll manage with stovetop sustenance.

Describing a French village as picturesque is easy when it’s composed of two main streets and they’re both lined with little stone houses. The photo here is the view from my small terrace. A bonus is that Fitou was apparently the first part of the Languedoc wine region to merit its own “appellation,” so the town of just 1000 people has about twelve wine shops. Between them and the boulangerie I suspect I’ll survive.

I’d ordered a bicycle before I left home, and the folks at (GPA) www.decathlon.fr got it here before me. In a bit I’ll fire it up and head off for Leucate, the nearest big town. It’s 6 or 7 miles from Fitou and on the ocean and I hope to find a laundromat (laverie) there. Leucate is also where they have the world windsurfing championships. Further, Leucate is the site of the nearest train station, so I expect to be getting all my cardio time in between here and there when I take rail excursions around the region.

Speaking of wine, on my first evening here I visited only one of the producers but came home with a 10-liter box of the local red. At 26 euros it was cheap enough. I don’t know anything about wine from here but I’ll try to, uh, educate myself.