Languedoc-Rousillon

I'm going to be in the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France for a little over a week this spring, and looking for suggestions for places to eat - I'm going to be driving in from Barcelona, probably travelling through Villefrance de Conflent, Prades and on to Carcassonne, then to Pezenas, Montepellier, and possibly stopping in both Narbonne and Perpignan depending on what sites I decide to see. On the way back to Barcelona I'll take the coastal route, probably stopping in Collioure.

There's not a lot of information out there on Languedoc-Rousillon (at least not in English, and I'm not very good at searching the net in French though I do speak it reasonably well). Geo mentioned some ideas in the Barcelona thread and I thought I'd move this discussion over to a new thread to avoid cluttering up that one.

Bonjour Kid, sounds like a great trip.

Half the fun of a trip is planning it, but I've learned from experience to not overplan the food in advance. Most of your research will be from American sites such as this, which is fine - but it gets dated, and most of us are just dabbling in Europe while on vacation. The local knowledge is much better, and the only way to get that is talking to the locals.

Your hotel concierge/owner will obviously be a great resource. But you mention we speak a passable French, and that opens a lot more interesting options.

Best advise I've read on how to get a great meal is to just get into a part of city or town that's kind of busy, and then buttonhole a stranger. Not just any stranger mind you, but someone very similar to you - similar age, similar style of hair/clothes, same body type. You're looking for your foreign doppelganger basically. Then in France you use the magic words, "Bonjour monsieur/madame. Excusez-moi de vous deranger, mais j’ai un problème (then "Parlez-vous anglais?" if you lose your nerve to continue in French). Translated it roughly means, "sorry to bother you, but I have a slight quandary".

That phrase is a secret handshake for educated and/or properly raised French. It shows that you yourself are educated and polite, and are in need of assistance from your brethren.

Tell them you love food, and with such a bounty of choices you absolutely have to have the best meal in town. Try and narrow it down for them, tell them you're looking for the best moderate, cheap, seafood, game, whatever. The French love their food, they're all experts. If you approach them in a non-douchey manner (try not to have a village idiot grin on your face, eg - the French have a more serious public demeanor than we do) they'll be happy to help you.

That phrase comes in handy whenever you're in a pinch, like at a train ticket window or some other stressed out situation. I always travel with my wife, but I imagine it's a good way to meet women too haha

Have fun!

My wife and I spent a week in France about a month ago, split between the Southwest and Paris. Most of the time in the SW was spent in Toulouse, a wonderful city. It sounds like you want to go east of there. If you're considering Toulouse, though, let me know. Have good restaurant and great AirBnB apartment recommendations for there.
Not too far from Carcassone is Albi, a very cool city with a restored old town, a phenomenal cathedral, the interior of which still has its original paintings going back to the early 1500s, and a Toulouse Lautrec museum (NB closed Tuesdays off season). We ate there at La Table du Sommelier, a very good restaurant with great local wine selections. The table next to ours was filled by what sounded to be a group of local wine growers who had a decanted bottle of red waiting for them when they arrived.
Anyway, the food was very good, reasonably priced, and the owner was charming. We'd been walking a lot that day and the last of my phone's charge was spent on Google maps navigating us to the restaurant. So when it came time to do the 15 or so minute walk back to our hotel (assuming I remembered the route) my wife sensibly wanted to take a cab. When we asked the owner to call us one, he said that there were few cabs in town late on a week night and it would take a long while for one to come. So he asked one of the waiters to drive us back to our hotel in the owner's car.
Great experience.
I visited Carcassone many years ago, and while the recreation of the old fortified walls there is cool, if I had to pick between Carcassone and Albi
to visit, I'd choose the latter.
We had very good luck on this trip relying on the Michelin guide 'bib gourmand' designation (good food/good value) when it came to picking restaurants. That's how we picked La Table du Sommelier. The exchange rate is very good now, and it was easy to eat really well for a very reasonable price.
Hope you have a great time and eat well. We certainly did. Bonne route!

I was in the region a few years ago and had an excellent meal at a three star Michelin guide restaurant called Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse. I haven't been doing a great deal of fine dining lately but I recall really enjoying this meal. Here's a link to their web site: http://www.aubergeduvieuxpuits.fr/en/index.php .

I was staying at a winery not too terribly far from the restaurant and I was a guest of the winemaker. He asked the sommelier to serve us appropriate wine pairings from the area. I was really impressed by the pairings and a lot of the wines never leave the area. At the end of dinner I bought a very reasonably priced bottle of Coche Dury Meursault to go with the cheese course. My meal was a combination of classic cooking and modern techniques.

I didn't see the bill as I was a guest, but in looking at the web site it appears that you can order a meal for about $175 at a legitimate three star Michelin restaurant. Not cheap, but decent value.

You had me at "reasonably priced bottle of Coche Dury Meursault"

Nice!

Good advice, Fast Eddie - I will definitely be trying to get local advice! I've got a few things in mind, but leaving it open since I don't want to overdo the eating.

Geo, if you're reading this - did you have a preferred place in Meze?

I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow, and will try to take some pics to contribute once I get back.

Kid--

We enjoyed Les Saveurs de Thau, which is a seafood restaurant right in the little port. Another place is something like "Le Coquille" (? scallop ?) across the port from that.
An excellent place, although not in the port, is Le Barque Bleu, on r. de Montpellier. We were treated very nicely here.
There are also a number of seafood 'shacks' up on the main road that have really fresh oysters and other local stuff.
A local wine--piqpoul de pinet--is an excellent choice to go with the seafood.

Have a great time, and let us know how it went!

Geo