Pezenas - La Place de la Republique

On the last day of our stay in L'Herault we drove beyond Beziers to a lovely town called Pezenas. Apart from this statue, celebrating the rights of man gained in the French Revolution there is a very interesting old town with a Jewish quarter dating from the 14th century, many old buildings and lots of lovely craft workshops. I could have spent a lot of money there.

One of the shops was a bakery where the very first petits pates de Pezenas were made to a recipe belonging to Clive of India's Indian chef. If any of you watched Masterchef - the Professionals one of the tasks set by Michel Roux was to recreate these little pies. They are most unusual in that they are made of mutton but also contain sugar. I found a postcard with the recipe I just have to translate it now.

The town is also famous as being the one time residence of the playwright Moliere. I studied one of his plays, Tartuffe, for A Level French and really enjoyed his wit. It is said that he gained inspiration for many of his plays from the people of Pezenas.