The beautiful Languedoc Region

This  huge region stretches from the Rhône Delta to the  Pyrenees, bound by  the Cévennes and the Montagne  Noire to the north, and the  Mediterranean to the south.

Languedoc  derives its name from its ancient language, the Language of Oc (in  which Oc means yes), which was spoken in the Middle Ages all the way  from Nice to Bordeaux. At the beginning of the middle ages, the area we  think of now as the Languedoc was independent from the kings of France;  it had a rich culture of its own, expressed in music and a vigorous  literature. It was here that the medieval cult of courtly love was  born; this is perhaps the ancestor of our idea of romantic love. The  patois, that you still hear spoken by people all over the south-west of  France, is an echo of that civilization.

 

         The Roman Pont du Gard     

Roussillon  is the area near the Spanish border sometimes known as French  Catalonia. It is an area of turbulent history going back to the Greeks,  Romans, Moors and Saracens; at one time part of the kingdom of Majorca,  the Roussillon was only handed back to France by Spain in 1659.

 
St Guilhem le Desert

            

The  climate is excellent; it is not uncommon to have 300 days of sunshine  in a year. The region is resplendent with streams, carved out cave  systems, and river canyons like the gorges of the Ardèche, the Cèze,  the Aude and the Hérault.
        The river gorges with their clear water  and dramatic cliffs are beautiful locations for bathing, picnicking,  canoeing, riding, walking and fishing. Look out for the brochure about  canoeing on the Herault.

 
Valras beach     

There  are wonderful beaches, inland étangs and little villages like Bouzigues  and Marseillan port both of which are within 30 minutes drive of most  of our properties.

Climbing up into the hills is like entering  another world. Even in the middle of summer the mountain valleys are  green and alive with flowers, waterflows and  herds  grazing on close cropped pasture. Some of the finest monuments in the  Languedoc-Roussillon date from Roman times and indeed Nîmes has some of  the best preserved Roman remains anywhere in Europe: the Maison Carrée,  a wonderfully well preserved Roman temple, the Roman Arena still in use  to this day and the Tour Magne originally a Roman watchtower. A short  drive from Nîmes is the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct now nearly two  thousand years old that brought water to Nîmes and which is now one of  the most visited sites in France. To the north of Nîmes is the ducal  town of Uzès with its fine old Renaissance buildings, arcaded  Place-aux-Herbes and pavement cafés perfect for  a cool drink.                

Montpellier  is one of the oldest university towns in France with its beautiful old  quarter and a striking modern area designed by the Catalan architect  Bofill. West of Montpellier, you can discover the Bassin de Thau, one  of France's foremost oyster and mussel producing regions, dominated by  the Mont St. Clair, and Sète, that vibrant and colourful port renowned  for its summer jousting on the canals.
     

Beyond  is Béziers,one of the main victims of the Albigensian crusades against  the Cathars in 1209 when its population was massacred and now one of  the leading commercial centres of the wine trade in the Languedoc.

 
Aqualand at Cap d'Agde  

Beziers  has attractive tree-lined boulevards and was the birthplace of Paul  Riquet, creator of the Canal du Midi. Indeed, the Canal du Midi flows  from the Atlantic to the  Mediterranean across the Languedoc with some particularly attractive stretches around Narbonne at Paraza, Roubia and Ventenac.

               

Magical Sete harbour

The  splendid citadel of Carcassonne needs little introduction but few  realise it was besieged during the Albigensian crusades as was the  picturesque village of Minerve. Other reminders of this era are the  ruined castles of the Cathars that are striking witnesses to their  tragic history such as Puilaurens, Quéribus and Peyrepertuse.

      The Gorges de l'Hérault     

French  Catalonia or Roussillon is a delight for the visitor offering much to  see and do. Perpignan, the second town of Catalonia, is a bustling,  dynamic place of great charm whose old town is dominated by the Palace  of the Kings of Majorca. On the coast are the picturesque ports of  Collioure where Picasso and Dufy painted, and Port Vendres an active  port even in Phoenician times. Inland is Thuir, home of Dubonnet; Elne,  named after Emperor Constantine's mother, Helena; the ancient abbeys of  St. Martin-du-Canigou and St. Michel-de-Cuxa; the spa towns of  Amélie-les-Bains and Vernet-les-Bains and picturesque Céret famous for  its cherries and as the home of many Cubist painters. The three main  valleys of the Maury, the Tech and the Têt are all different, all with  Roman remains and striking Spanish fortifications built originally to  protect the areas from the French and all ironically restored by the  French to protect the area from the Spanish!