Delicious Narbonne, the Roman heart on the other side of the border

Two hours from Barcelona and four from Madrid by train, high speed has put Narbonne back on the map. Every year, almost half a million Spaniards cross an increasingly closer border to enjoy a maritime plan that is already an open secret: eating and drinking in the Roman city and its surroundings. Visit, yes, the Canal du Midi, the Mediterranean beaches, the Narbo Via Museum dedicated to the Roman history of the French city, the Gothic cathedral of Saint Just and Saint Shepherd, the underground Roman galleries... But the gastronomy and wines of the area have moved to

pole position

. Narbonne, the first daughter of Rome outside Italy founded by the Romans in 118 BC, charming and currently not very crowded, is calling. It is no longer a transit city. And to

l'art de vivre

we must always say yes.

Narbonneans and

bons vivants

tourists cross paths while shopping at the declared most beautiful market in France in 2022, Les Halles. A covered market where you can buy

gourmet

bread , cheese, fruit, honey, olive oil, local spices... and eat at one of the stalls open to the public run by a former rugby player. This is Gilles Belzons, better known as

Bebelle

, who feeds meat at his place, Chez Bebelle, starring in a show not suitable for vegan hearts. At the command of his megaphone, he shouts for the carnivorous order to the butcher shop of the shopkeeper across the street, in turn under the command of a countryman from Jaén, François Alcalá, who throws it at him like a rugby ball. Belzons receives it and throws it to his cooks who, carefully, in front of an absorbed audience, place it on the griddle and

voilá

, with the yolk of an egg placed in the middle they make a kind of meat bagel and prepare the star dish:

steak cheval haché.

More information

Ten places to discover France through the magic of its rivers

Gilles Belzons, megaphone in hand, at his Chez Bebelle store, in Les Halles market, in Narbonne.RAYMOND ROIG (AFP / Getty Images)

At twelve in the morning there is already a waiting list, mostly Spanish tourists who are distracted standing at the bar watching the meat fly while drinking a Gérard Bertrand. The most

gourmets

taste their Château l'Hospitalet Grand Vin, declared the best wine in the world in 2019 in a blind tasting with 6,000 options. It is the place and it is the area. The Languedoc-Roussillon region, adjacent to Andorra, with 200,000 hectares of vineyards, is the largest wine producer in France.

Detail of the facade of the Les Halles market, in the French town of Narbonne. mauritius images GmbH / Alamy / CORDON PRESS

Only in this area has Gérard Bertrand himself, another former rugby player, been able to become the king of organic and biodynamic wines. Without pesticides and according to the cycles of the Moon. It is the south and it is the sea. It is next to the Mediterranean where life is savored calmly with a glass of wine and the people of Narbonne, with their Roman hearts, know it well. Is that

savoir faire

? The truth is that the now winegrowing businessman exports his wines to 180 countries around the world, including Spain. He manages more than 400 workers spread across his 17 vineyards in Occitania. In many of them, visitors have the opportunity to stay in their castles surrounded by vines. At Chateau l'Hospitalet, with a swimming pool, sea views and a restaurant called L'art de vivre, words are unnecessary. Everyone from the Belgian singer and songwriter Stromae to MasterChef contestants has slept in its 41 rooms

.

The colors of the rooms are warm, the decoration minimalist. The castle is integrated into the nature that Bertrand loves. It is impossible that the best wine in the world has not come from there. Bertrand is the first exporter of organic wine in France and he claims to be introducing his rosé in our country.

One day he received an unexpected call: the singer Jon Bon Jovi wanted him to make a wine for him. The experience of one and the money of another created Hampton Water, a rosé that later appeared among the 100 best on the planet according to

Winespectator's

.

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A post shared by Chateau L'Hospitalet (@chateaulhospitalet)

One of its famous rosés, Gris Blanc, is the favorite for tasting oysters in the Gruissan salt flats, half an hour by car from Narbonne, where they are grown all year round. This cold

rosé

pairs wonderfully with the raw seafood offered in this restaurant surrounded by sea and mountains of salt. Blue and white turn into pink reflections. Snails, prawns, prawns, mussels, bread and butter good to eat sitting down after photographing the salt workers removing the fleur de sel good to take away. They also sell salt mixed with the most unexpected herbs (cilantro, bay leaf or rosemary) by weight, which visitors take in envelopes to give as gifts. The wind of the countryside and the sea. The wine and the salt.

Landscape of the Gruissan salt flats, about 20 minutes by car from Narbonne.Andia / Alamy / CORDON PRESS

But the visit to Narbonne can also be organized according to the restaurant's agenda

Les Grands Buffets, since it has up to six months of waiting list to eat at the largest buffet on the planet, the restaurant with the highest turnover in all of France. It serves 400,000 diners a year, 43,000 of them Spanish. Everything in this establishment is gargantuan. Its selection of cheeses holds the Guinness record for being the largest in the world: you can choose from more than 100 European cheeses, among which there are six Spanish ones. About 1,000 people eat a day in two shifts of 500. There are hundreds and hundreds of French cuisine dishes to choose from to eat in four large rooms, each more elegant. American-style lobster, hare

royale,

Saint Jacques scallop in Nantes sauce,

cassoulet

, poached

foie gras

with boletus cream... The star dish? The duck in blood. It is cooked over flames two days a week in front of the public. Another figure: it has more than 200 employees, 30 of them cooks, including several Spaniards.

“That's Spanish,” whisper those who cook in full view of everyone in the

rôtisserie

while they shape a

vol au vent

of veal sweetbreads. They know this because their southern neighbors go crazy over the cheese and eat it as an appetizer while the French serve it for dessert. The price? 60 euros not including drinks, which can be taken at the producer's price (a bottle of Möet Chandon is 25 euros). If there is room for dessert, it is difficult to choose between the floating island, the Bella Helena pear or the

crêpe Suzette,

among 80 other options. There is only one Spanish one on the menu: Catalan cream. Brave is the one who tries more than 10 dishes.

The assortment of cheeses at the Les Grands Buffets restaurant, in Narbonne. Eric Catarina (Getty Images)

The evenings in Narbonne end on the Robine canal at the Katia Kiosk. With a glass of wine listening to the locals practice their favorite sport:

bavarder, papoter

... chatting about no matter what while the Aude River slowly searches for the Mediterranean. It is not difficult for there to be Spaniards at the neighboring table with a

rosé

and a salmon and fennel tapa. The

bons vivants

have already discovered

joie de vivre,

and it is not that far away.

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