Abbaye de Fontfroide — Attraction in Narbonne

Nestled in a green valley in the Languedoc region of southern France not far from Narbonne, the Abbey of Fontfroide is one of the most complete abbey complexes remaining today.

The Abbey of Fontfroide is an excellent example of the monastic town prescribed by Saints Benedict and Bernard, in which everything necessary for simple living is accessible within the monastic complex.

The various buildings thus provide room for prayer (the church and the cloister), for work (the scriptorium and the gardens) and for rest (the dormitories), as well as food and drink to sustain the monks and lay brothers.

The enclosed monastic complex of Fontfroide consists of two main areas: one for monks and one for lay brothers. The section reserved for monks is that nearest the church and the cloisters, while the section for lay brothers is that which opens to the outside world.

The abbey buildings are arranged around the flow of water, which was needed for the gardens, the cloisters, the corn mill and the fish ponds.

The former outbuildings of the abbey have been completely restored and transformed into a visitors' area that includes a restaurant, a gift shop, and a wine cellar.

The restaurant is open the same hours as the monastery. In the cellar, you can taste the Corbières Blanc produced at Fontfroide as well as the Corbières Rouge and the Rosé of St. Julien de Séptieme from the vineyards of the oldest Fontfroide grange which is situated immediately next to the starting point...

We visited for the Flower Festival. The Abbey itself is stunningly beautiful and has a wonderfully peaceful ambiance to it. We could sense that, even though it was thronged with visitors to the festival. The buildings are built of a warm coloured stone, and seemed to embrace us in welcome. The grounds are gorgeous, and the planting is done so as to enhance the Abbey rather than to overwhelm it. The competitions for young florists were amazing. It was extraordinary how differently the same flowers could be arranged by each florist. The range of plants, organic products, novelties, jewellery, sculptures and creations of all sorts was fantastic. And if one wished, it would be very easy to spend a fortune without any effort. We bought a few small, but lovely items and we're delighted with our purchases. We were totally charmed by our visit to Abbaye de Fontfroide and we will definitely go back again, perhaps when there is no event on, just to enjoy this...

Beautiful way to spend a few hours. It was not busy when we went and it took us 2 hours to stroll through. Parking was ample and though dogs are not allowed in, I found it nice that they had a few kennels you could store your dog in while you visited. There is a restaurant at the entrance and we grabbed a drink to go, they let us bring it inside. As you walk in toward the abbey, there are planters filled with all kinds of herbs. That area smelled so amazing. You show your ticket to the person at the abbey entrance and they scan it. We did not buy ours in advance but you can. There are guided tours but we just wanted to go at our own pace. It's a beautiful building and the gardens are serene. We got lots of great pics. Definitely a good choice...