The village which is now known as Montclus was initially constructed on a hill overlooking the River Ceze dating back to around 1275, and was first documented with the name in 1550.
The commune is quite spread out, comprising of 2188 hectares. The main Chateau with an incredible vaulted staircase, which is called “Vis de St. Gilles” was built in the 13 th century.
In about 1500 the main Chateau was restructured in the flamboyant gothic style along with an addition of a kitchen, known as the “guardroom”. From the 18 th Century the chateau formed part of the property of the
Counts de Vogue.
In the mid 1800s, the extension of the village was afforded with wealth derived from the culture of Silk Worms. But in in 1850, the outbreak of a silk worm disease called Pebrine caused a major exodus, which was
exacerbated by other crisis and this lasted until about 1975.
Population of the village has varied greatly over the centuries, with the largest population of about 750 people is on record in around 1850. This was also partially due revenue from sales of the surrounding timber, which started in 1821, and afforded the town to build The Lady of the Assumption in 1824.
The population grew from about 350 to 750 in just a few years, but it shrank to under 200 by 2014.
However, thanks to a number of younger people who have moved in, either buying existing properties, or taking over family homes, and renovating them, the population is increasing slightly in the last few years.
This is a Beautiful “walking” village as the only cars allowed in the internal streets are those of the inhabitants and their heirs.
To view a Lot more pics, just click on the link above and select the Photos Here option at the top.
Also, here is a link for even more history and pictures of this beautiful city: https://www.grandsudinsolite.fr/3156-30-gard-montclus–un-des-plus-beaux-village-de-france%E2%80%A6.html
Now, here are a couple things we have learned since moving here, and we learned some the harder way 🙂
There is Not much of a Music scene at all, that we have found, at least in the smaller villages. We Did find some live music when we were in Narbonne, as we were walking to a restaurant where we had reservations. There was a duo playing at an Italian place, and we popped our heads in to listen for a minute, and they sounded Great. We decided to stop back by after our dinner just a few doors down. When we walked in, we were greeted by a gentleman who told us “The music is Only if you are dining with us”. Now, we could have ordered cocktails and dessert, but apparently that was Not an option. The place was only 1/2 full, so it wasn’t a capacity thing, so we were puzzled, but went on our way.
Then, there are the restaurant hours, which are Not posted on most restaurants. 2 examples of where this was a bit difficult were when our power at the apartment went out last week. We went into town around 7pm to try to find a restaurant that was open for dinner. Plenty of Bars, but with no food. We drove around town for about 30 minutes, and found Nothing open. Fortunately, Yolanda one of our hosts, messaged us about then and told us power was back. Yaaaaayyy!!! Just an FYI, most restaurants are open from noon until 2 or 2:30. Some reopen for dinner, but not that many, and they do Not open until 7 or 7:30.
Then on Sunday, we decided to go in and have some Pizza (which is Everywhere. I think it’s a law that Pizza Must be on the menu:-) After all, most of these towns were originally created by the Romans, a couple thousand years ago. In any event, we googled at least 3 or 4 Pizza places that said they were open, at least on their websites. They were Not. We did find a little hole-in-the-wall place. And I mean that literally, as the building was under renovation, and there was scaffolding all over the front, with a very small walk-through, into a very small room, with one guy making Pizzas to go. It was quite inexpensive and turned out to be one of the Best we have had here, so it all turned out fine, and it Was an adventure 🙂
We Have found some Awesome food, however, some Great food at Bistro Clem, in Pont St Esprit, wonderful Pizza at a small Italian spot just off the main square in Bagnols, just called “Pizza” from what we can tell, and Beautiful salads for lunch on the main square in Bagnols. We also lucked out in Tresques (pronouncecd Tresk) called La Maison. It is owned and run by a couple, Pierre & Christina, and the food (Christina) and service (Pierre) was “Off the Hook”. We found out later that we were incredibly fortunate to catch them on a day when we were able to get a table, as apparently you normally can’t get in without reservations.
We may have to do a blog/newsletter just about restaurants in the area, as we find more.
And, there is a place to make comments on our website, newsletter or whatever suits you. If you have any suggestions about how we can make this more enjoyable, please let us know. Also, please feel free to share it with others, and invite them to sign up, if they want to follow along on our adventures.