The village of Minerve is a peaceful and enchanting place and it's clear for all to see why it's one of the ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France’. 2000 years ago the Romans settled in Languedoc and perhaps the name of this miniscule village stems back to those times. Certainly the village is ancient and in the days of the Cathar crusade would have been known by its Occitan name Menèrba, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom.
It's possible to approach the village from 3 directions and each gives a unique vista. If coming from the direction of the village of Cessaras you will have a superb view of the 'Petite Causse', the name given to stretches of limestone land which in Languedoc is smothered with wild herbs and other Mediterranean plants such as cistus, pine and Juniper. The collective name for these scented plants is ‘garrigue’. The Petit Causse is an ancient land with evidence of mankind from previous millennia. Millions of years ago turbulent river waters sliced a deep gorge across the causse but now the gentle River Cesse trickles lazily going underground during the summer months. Each spring I like to walk these hills and take the now familiar path that crosses the causse and each step I take along the limestone path releases intoxicating aromas of wild thyme warmed by the sunshine. At this time of year the herbs are flowering and are also joined by pretty wild flowers and birdsong is the only sound I hear apart from the crunch of my boots.
