Anne & Kirk Woodyard – Music and Markets Tours

Join us for a wander in the arriere-pays – the lesser-known inland villages, hills and valleys of the region where we owned a home for twenty years. From the heights of Béziers, the closest city to our home in Occitanie, formerly the Languedoc (sometimes called the OTHER or the REAL South of France),our gaze encompasses vineyards, the Canal du Midi, villages and winding roads blanketing the plain to the Montagne Noir in the distance. Cazouls-les-Béziers, our first stop, is one of the many places that include the big city in their name. It’s a quiet village (we don’t see a soul as we walk around!) set in the middle of vineyards, with a pretty church, St. Saturnin.Scents of the garrigue – scrub covering the uncultivated hills – wild rosemary, thyme, and other aromatic herbs – waft into the car (we’ve rented a convertible for this trip – perfect weather to ride al fresco!) as we slowly meander the narrowest roads we can find, traversing vineyards,vines heavy with grapes ready for harvest.Puisserguier (featured photo on top) is our next stop, a circulade (walled circular village) with abundant flowers throughout. We’ve noticed several of these delightful murals in Beziers and surrounding villages –wonderful trompe l’oeil details that make you want to walk right in!
The Languedoc cross flies over the chateau, dating from the 1200s, atop the village.We’re invited to pause for a tour, but decide to wander the rest of the villageand continue on to St. Chinian, a respected wine town where we sample a few local tipples, and come away with a few bottles for our wine cave in Aix.The harvest is in full swing around here, and nearly everyone is out in the vineyards. Chateau La Dournie, on the edge of town, has been woman-owned and operated for six generations, and Mme. Etienne (whose daughter is the current winemaker) is kind enough to take time away from her post in the office to show us the winery, fragrant with crushed grapes. Whites and reds await the magic of the winemaker – sweet to the taste, right off the vine.Dropping a light down into a vat, she shows us the grapes beginning to bubble and ferment – on their way to becoming a valued wine.We’ll definitely want to try one of their vintages when we return!
Last stop today is Murviel-les-Béziers, another circular village surrounded by ramparts. The elegant Chateau de Mus sits atop the town,with expansive views. Intricately carved portals, doors and mullioned windowsare a testament to the importance of the town in centuries past. Today, it quietly surveys the acres of vineyards carpeting the valley of the Orb River.
Do villages and vines entice?  This is just a sampling of the many villages and views awaiting exploration in the quieter interior of Occitanie, and just one of the many themes to choose for a customized itinerary in the south of France. We happily design and host personalized tours, crafted around the desires of our guests. Let us know where you’d like to explore!

The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive. We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests. Since 2003 we’ve hosted Music and Markets tours in France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, England and Spain, and in 2019 added Wonder Tours with a more intentional concentration on art and architecture, local culture, food and wine, and less time dedicated to concert-going.We also design and host custom private tours – previous locations include many French, Spanish, British and Italian regions. Between our music-related travels, we enjoy our home in the south of France. While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups, Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over forty years of teaching and performance experience. Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.