A view of the Town Hall in Thuir, from the central square

Thuir is the nearest town to our house, about 12 minutes by road (8kms.) and it has benefited greatly from the income produced form the Byrrh winery located in the heart of the town.The fine square in the centre of the town is where a market is held every Saturday morning. There are a number of restaurants in the town and we can particularly recommend one for both the food and its friendly welcome. The restaurant-bodega, Can Marty, is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday (closed al day Sunday/Monday) and provides a number of Catalan and traditional French dishes served in a friendly atmosphere. Other restaurants include Coin Sud, La Taverne del Galet, Le Patio Catalan, Cafe Bleu and El Rossello.

 The Byrrh winery was originally built by the Violet family in 1892 and passed via the ownership of Cusenier to that of the Pernod-Ricard Group today. It comprises 7 hectares (17 acres) of buildings and 800 oak vats and produces over 20 million litres of wine products per year. Apart from the original Byrrh apéritif, Dubonnet and Cinzano are amongst the products made here.

Tours around the extensive buildings are offered (1.70 euros) during which you will see the largest oak cask in the world, holding over 1 million litres of wine, the old station designed and built by Eiffel and gain the opportunity to taste (and of course to buy!) some of the product at the end. See www.byrrh.com for information.