Thuir – pronounced tw-ear-r.

The weather is changing here in Fenouillet – the days are starting to get longer and the sun has more warmth in it. And because we’d spent a few days at home, we tossed up about spending a day beside the sea or if we’d revisit Thuir. (We came here in December 2016 on a very damp and dull day.)

Because the bus timetables worked better for the trip to Thuir, and because we found out there would be a market held on Saturday morning – the trip to Thuir won.

Mick thought of a way not to get lost in the crowd by wearing a highly-visible shirt – at least from back on (but not a gilet jaune).

It was a very busy market and the produce was the cheapest we’ve found so far. We spent a very enjoyable two hours wandering through the stalls, looking at all that was on offer while watching the customs the French adopt at markets. Each stall had a very orderly line up of people waiting his or her turn to be served. It was a good day for the stall holders as well and quite a few of them were sold out of their fresh produce before the market finished at 1.00pm.

The stall on the right stopped us both in our tracks – it consisted of a purpose built truck or van that was filled with herbs and spices. The smells were amazing, but I did wonder how fresh they might be by the time you got to the very end of one of the large sacks or containers used to store the products.

One thing I love seeing at the markets is how the stall holders set themselves up so as to ensure they too have a very happy time – regardless of whether they sell much or not.

At the end of this book store’s table you can spot the remnants of a baguette and a bottle of wine, some plastic mugs filled with wine, some cheese and some meat, all bought from fellow stall holders, or brought from home. The stall holders seem to enjoy market days as much as we do.

On our way to find somewhere for lunch, we passed a busker who was playing beautifully while puffing on a cigarette out of the side of his mouth. It was worth a few euros.

Now, what about the tongue twister??

Thuir is famous for making a fortified wine called Byrrh.

We have noticed that almost every region in France we have visited has its on take on a fortified wine, or an apéritif, and the name of the wine is usually taken from the town or the region in which it’s made, but not Byrrh.

I don’t where the name Byrrh came from.

Last time we were here this place was not open, but today we ventured inside and were a bit disappointed as it was only a Tourist Office and not a Cave for wine tasting. Never mind we thought, we will stop at a bar after lunch and try one there.

We had a spare hour before our bus was to depart, so we called into what had been the busiest bar in the town centre up until 12.30pm, but at 1.30pm when we walked in, we were one of five patrons. Everyone must have been either eating lunch or having a siesta.

Mick decided to order a beer and a glass of Byrrh so he could at least try it. As soon as he had finished placing his order in his best French, the bartender looked at me with a puzzled look (as I had asked earlier in French what types of beer he had on tap), and then he looked back to Mick and started doing the actions of buttering a piece of bread or toast (in mid air).

The young Frenchman then said in English …. “You want butter with your beer?”, and gave a puzzled look.

We did giggle and thankfully were able to point to a bottle on the bar, which he then understood.

Now take a look at Google Translate’s take on these words in French (this is a screen shot only – it won’t play for you) because beer and Byrrh sound very much the same. We then realised that the word for ticket (billet) is also very similar in sound.

Click on the link below to have a listen – it is very quick, but you’ll hear why it would make a good tongue twister indeed.

Wikipedia acknowledges the similarity of the name of this wine with the term beer.

Byrrh sold well in the early 20th century. It was even exported, despite the similarity of its name to “beer”, complicating sales in English- and German-language speaking regions

And what’s more, the nice bartender actually ‘gave’ Mick the glass of Byrrh for free – I think he enjoyed the experience as much as we did.