Le Parc

Every architect likes to work with skilled craftsmen. They are a necessary link in the smooth running of a building site, as they bring the designer’s idea to life. Know-how is therefore essential, but good listening and quality exchanges with the various clients are needed too. In Carcassonne, we met a well-regarded master painter, Jean-Philippe Puerto, a regular contributor to many renovation projects.

This elegant jeweller’s in Carcassonne, with the lovely name “Secrets d’Or”, catches the eye. The refined window makes you want to take everything down and try it all on: timeless, finely crafted jewellery in gold, silver and precious stones that charms you. Step inside and Carmen and her two daughters will guide you with great judgement; you can feel the experience of three generations. Must there always be a special occasion to treat yourself to a piece of jewellery? Certainly not: all it takes is a little imagination to invent one!

When it comes to managing linen in the hotel world, being beyond reproach is essential. Its management can be outsourced to a specialist provider who handles everything day to day, from collection to delivery, while keeping stock rotating well. According to some studies, the quality of the linen is one of the criteria guests use to judge a hotel. It is therefore an important issue, not to be overlooked. In the Occitanie region, the company “Blanchisserie Artisanale” is a trusted ally for tourism professionals and for private customers alike.

Tasting waters are essential in gastronomy. Whether still or sparkling, under the name “Vittel Classique” or “Fine bulle Perrier”, they all have the thirst-quenching qualities a meal calls for. Some are rich in minerals, others low in sodium. To guide the choice and meet guests’ expectations, sommeliers like to work with specialists in the field, such as the company “Boissons Distribution”, a well-informed partner for the waters of “Groupe Nestlé Waters” and an indispensable one for every establishment.

For poultry, chefs turn to the Mounié family, poultry merchants for more than 60 years in the heart of the Lauragais. With traditional rearing conditions, rigorous selection and a 100% plant and mineral feed produced in the region, this house, committed to fine values, offers a whole range in its shops: grey and red chicken, Poulet Cathare, black-headed guinea fowl, rabbit, spring chicken, pigeon, quail, duck, turkey... For those who enjoy working with such fine produce, it is a pleasure to step into this shop in Carcassonne.

Eight kilometres of galleries hollowed out of the rock, thirty metres underground: this is where several million bottles of champagne from the singular “Maison Charles Heidsieck” rest patiently to complete their maturation (a minimum of four years). In 1851, the founder, Charles-Camille Heidsieck, focused his work on the processes of making and maturing champagne in order to give it a unique depth and richness. Even today, his successors ensure that this quality is maintained in each of its productions. The “Brut Réserve” cuvée, with its 40% of 10-year-old reserve wines, is the emblem of the house.

Set in the heart of the Corbières, this historic family estate offers the vine a climate entirely favourable to its flourishing and produces wines with presence, in a fine balance of subtle fruit, freshness and roundness. Ageing for 12 months in oak barrels also reinforces the aromatic framework of the wines made here. The emblematic, historic “Cuvée Prestige” is the perfect example: you find red fruit and blackberry with a touch of oak, hints of liquorice and vanilla. After a fresh, clean attack, the wine unfolds with breadth and finesse.

The architect Emmanuel Delayre, who heads the studio “Design et Matières”, offers a complete service built on complementary skills: a design office, a materials library, and a joinery and upholstery workshop. This distinctive approach helps him create coherent interiors while keeping delays to a minimum. It has made him a regular and valued contributor to many renovations and refurbishments in the hotel world, though not only there...

This estate has belonged to the Parayre family since 1960. It is now run with a master’s hand by Joelle and Dominique, the children, whose sole aim is to make it a reference vineyard. Organic, sustainable cultivation, combined with almost constant winds, the dominant “Cers” and the “Autan”, acting on the 3 grape varieties, plays a key role in the quality of the plant and contributes to the typicity of the wines produced. For example the Rosé “Bianca Flora”, combining power, finesse and length on the palate, or the cuvée “La Croisée des Vents”, a complex red which on the nose marries small red fruits with spices and reveals a full, fresh palate, cuvées suited to refined dishes.

The particularity of the “Domaine de Vaissière” is its double geographical situation. One part of the vineyard enjoys a sunny, hot and dry Mediterranean climate, allowing the syrah a warm and delicate expression, while the other part, set beside a river, gains a certain freshness: the ideal conditions for expressive, open wines with perfectly balanced aromas. Today, always in search of something new, Olivier and his two children select the best vines on the property to create exceptional wines, with a concern for sustainable production that has been consistent for many years.

Since 1946, the house “Sieur d’Arques” has produced exceptional wines and established itself in the Languedoc as a creator of great sparkling wines that combine technique and tradition. Every stage of the process relies on the complementary skills of passionate men and women: winegrowers, oenologists... Since 1990, “Toques & Clochers” has also been behind the largest charity wine auction in France, part of whose proceeds goes to preserving local architectural heritage. Some 42 bell towers in the villages of the Limoux appellation have already been restored. Each year, one village is chosen to host the event, in celebration of the renovation of its church.

This specialist in event hospitality has been supporting individuals and companies in this field for 16 years. Its skills go well beyond simply organising an event. At the outset, the team draws on a thorough reflection that takes the desired expectations into account, and knows how to work with the finest names in tableware, furniture, decoration, lighting design and more. Dominique Desdies, who heads the company, designs and stages wholly singular, tailor-made events, unique enough to stay in the memory of the guests present.

Attentive to the demands of leading chefs, the company “Alpagel” offers fine discoveries all year round, such as the “Saumon Bömlo”, with its firm, tasty, delicate and lean flesh, found on a Norwegian fish farm committed to recreating the wild living conditions of salmon without any brutality. There is also the tender, juicy “Veau Vitellier”, a 100% French supply chain that has been committed for 25 years to a considered approach and a constant search for irreproachable quality.

Everyone knows the “Metro France” brand, the leading major supplier to independent restaurants. What is less known to the general public is that for several years now it has focused on selecting very high-end products to meet the demands of leading Michelin-starred chefs. A fine rapport has grown up in these exchanges, always pushing further towards excellence. The products on offer are sought out by the brand from small producers who care about the environment and have unique expertise. With its “Origine France” charter, the brand backs national producers and encourages all restaurateurs to follow the movement.

A successful garden is, above all, one that takes account of the constraints of the land, its history, its climate and its exposure. These are what guide the designer’s choices and the plants that can be considered. The foundation of landscape design is mastering all these technical constraints while knowing how to reveal the extraordinary character of a site. Laurent Delmas is one of those landscape designers who practise their craft with sincerity, in an ecological and considered way.

Today, vegetables have pride of place in the cooking of many chefs. To meet their needs, they turn to specialists such as Florence Carayon, a “fruitière primeurs” (Meilleur Ouvrier de France). A demanding partner, she regularly seeks out relevant seasonal produce for them from local and regional growers. She asks them about their growing methods and the nature of their soil... essential factors that determine flavour. For a special occasion, Florence arranges and elevates the plant world in splendid baskets of fruit or vegetables, available in her two shops in Carcassonne.

A software designer and publisher, the company “Euresto” is recognised in the hotel and restaurant world for its mastery and its complete, intuitive solutions. For businesses in the tourism sector in particular, it offers high-performing management tools that simplify the back office of a hotel or restaurant... Everything then becomes simpler: a dashboard of bookings, work in progress, guest arrivals, the daily staff schedule...

This oyster farmer has raised the oyster of the Étang de Thau to its highest level. Through a unique biomimetic innovation based on imitating and amplifying the natural movement of the tides, the oyster is made to build more muscle, so that it is meatier, crunchier and richer in flavour. The house of “Tarbouriech” also runs unusual venues on the Étang de Thau, a counter, “Le St Barth”, and, more recently, in collaboration with the University of Montpellier, an estate devoted to well-being built around treatments derived from oyster therapy.

Architects need plasterers and plasterboard fitters to insulate, fit out and finish living spaces with a variety of materials, an important stage before the decoration of the walls. The materials chosen by the craftsman make it possible to produce technically high-performing work in varied shapes and finishes. The trade demands real know-how: method, care and precision. The company “Gastou Plâtrerie” is one of the recommended craftsmen in the South-West region.

Beer is the very symbol of pleasure and conviviality. In a can or not, the current success of a pint on the terrace shows no sign of fading, and the range keeps widening, making the choice harder from one year to the next. The sommeliers of leading gastronomic restaurants now work with specialists in the field, the zythologists (or beer experts), so as to avoid any misstep in selecting their offer, spot trends and new flavours, and meet exactly the demands of “beer-lovers” of every stripe.

The apron, the universal image of the working uniform, is back in the spotlight. Beyond their protective qualities, the made-to-measure, embroidered aprons produced by the company “Luna” are fully personalised and made in-house, from the fabric to the tailoring, from the embroidery to the screen printing. You can order kitchen aprons for intensive use, with a wide choice of shapes and colours: bib aprons, waist aprons, crossback aprons... This small company in the Occitanie region supplies many establishments that wish to personalise their identity with elegance.

Faced with temperature variations and the risk of certain illnesses spreading, the restaurant world has more than ever a need to protect guests and staff from such inconveniences. But installing air conditioning in a building is no small matter, and only specialists can design and fit this type of equipment. Several factors come into play, such as integration, noise and temperature accuracy, not forgetting follow-up and regular maintenance. The company “Vaissière et Fils” is a reference in the South-West for this type of service.

A maker of objects remarkable for their beauty, efficiency and reliability: I am thinking of the company “Wismer”, and in particular its manual slicer. Designed over a century ago by a former metalworker turned pork butcher, this work of art is still made, assembled and customised by hand, using only noble materials: cast iron, steel, aluminium, olive wood... Behind the beauty, the performance is there too, with a remarkably consistent fineness of cut. A wheeled stand can be added so it can be moved anywhere, many other options are available, and a version for home use also exists.