Languedoc, France

Home » Helen Rose Hillwalking Diary » Languedoc, France October 2013

Languedoc, France October 2013

Helen Rose Hill Diary

I am fortunate to have family with a house in the Languedoc in a vineyard area with wine production and I visit them regularly there. With jaunts around the countryside I am seeing parts of the area to give me a flavour of the history of the area and how it is to live in rural France. This has been a wonderful experience in the lovely warm, sunny weather of the South of France in late summer.

The province of Languedoc covers an area of approximately 42,700 km² (16,490 sq. miles) in the central part of southern France, roughly the region between the Rhône River (border with Provence) and the Garonne River (border with Gascony), extending northwards to the Cévennes and the Massif Central (border with Auverg). The Mediterranean Sea is on the south of the Languedoc. The department of Hérault is possibly the most dynamic in Languedoc Roussillon. With Montpellier as its capital (supposedly Europe’s fastest-growing city), and the huge seaside resorts of Sete and Grande Motte bringing in millions of tourists every summer, the Hérault department is bustling and growing like never before. Even sleepy Beziers has attracted budget airline flights to its tiny airport.

But despite all the build-up commotion along the coast, the interior of Hérault in Languedoc is as beautiful and unspoiled as it has always been. The Hérault countryside is glorious, as you drive away from the coast and into the foothills of the Black Mountains, you get lost in an ocean of vines, reaching as far as the eye can see.

Some of the villages of Hérault, Languedoc are incredibly pretty. Roquebrun is lovely, with its bridge and old water mill on the river Orb. St Guilhem le Desert is also spectacularly beautiful – and one of Languedoc’s top tourist spots. I have visited many of the main historic places in the area and on my last visit I saw the Canal Du Midi constructed in 1789 which runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau near the Mediterranean. We were on our way to Minervois where there is a lovely spot by the river to picnic and then go fishing for minnows.

On our way to Salasc we stopped off at the Cirque Du Moureze, famous for the Dolomite rock which has interesting sculptural shapes and sand around where the rock has eroded. The village of Salasc is very pretty with gorgeous sunflowers in the gardens and as usual we spent time in the cafe eating ice cream and drinking coffee in the warm sunshine. We travelled back along Lac Salagou to our village nestling high in the hills and surrounded by vineyeards. I love going to the bakers in the morning for fresh bread and carrying it back to the house warm for breakfast. The local people are so good at letting me practice my halting French. Another highlight in the village is the local restaurant where the food is beautifully cooked and dinner lasts all evening. The French live to eat and time spent around the table is an opportunity to chat and be with family and friends.

No visit to Languedoc is complete without a trip to the beach and this time we went to Valras Plage and were fortunate to see a Harley Davidson convention with motorbikes parked along the promenade. This thrilled the little one and there was also time for an ice cream from the cafe selling a huge selection of flavours. Vive la France, roll on next summer!

Coming attraction; Chatelherault Country Park

Contact me at [email protected]