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France Information · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Posts: 33 Home Country: france

FRANCE TOURISM GUIDE (LANGUEDOC & ROUSSILLON)

The combined territories of Languedoc and Roussillon include five départements: Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozère and Pyrénées-Oriental. The area has been French since the 13th century and the name languedoc comes from langue d’oc, or language in which ‘yes’ is oc (as opposed to langue d’oïl the language in which ‘yes’ is oui). This ancient language is still heard throughout the south of France, on both sides of the Rhône.

The Mediterranean coast between Perpignan (the ancient capital of the Kings of Mallorca) and Montpellier now has one of the most modern holiday complexes in Europe, including the resorts of La Grande Motte, Port Leucate and Port Bacarès.

Montpellier itself is the city that surveys show most French people would like to live in. With its grand civic spaces, cutting-edge architecture and state-of-the-art tram system, the city offers a vision into the future of urban living. Other attractions include some excellent museums, galleries and a string of fine, good value restaurants.

More wine is produced in Languedoc-Roussillon than any other place in the world. The vineyards, started in the Roman era and producing red, white and rosé wine, begin in the Narbonne area, run past Béziers (the wine marketing center for the region) and on to Montpellier. Once an important seaport which imported spices (its name derives from ‘the Mount of Spice Merchants’), the city is an important intellectual and university center with five fine museums, impressive 17th- and 18th-century architecture and a superb summer music festival.

There is a great variety of other attractions in this warm southland. The Roman (and some Gallic) ruins are often magnificent; the Maison Carré, Diana’s Temple and the Roman Arena in Nîmes, the Rome of the Gauls, are among the finest examples of Greco-Roman architecture to be found today. The 2000-year-old Pont de Gard is one of humanity’s greatest architectural accomplishments and certainly merits a special trip. There is the medieval city of Aigues-Mortes which would still be recognizable to St Louis and his crusaders, for it was from here they embarked for the east; and the crenellated walled city of Carcassonne and towers of Uzès are unmissable.

On the coast, Sete is Mediterranean France’s largest fishing port and boasts an attractive town center, complete with canals, beaches and bountiful restaurants and cafes. Nearby, Agde is a smaller fishing port whose main attraction is Le Cap d’Agde, with its wide expanse of unspoiled beaches and large nudist colony.

The Canal du Midi, ideal for cruise holidays, is a tranquil waterway, largely abandoned by commerce, that connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean. It runs through the sleepy village of Castelnaudary, famous for its cassoulet, past the citadel of Carcassonne and on through Montpellier.