Languedoc offers almost everything you could wish for. Magnificent scenery with the sea and the mountains always close by. Good food, picturesque small towns, cultural cities. And – here comes the best part – enormously good wines. Many of the interesting things in wine that are happening in France today are happening in the Languedoc.
A good starting point for a tour in Languedoc is Montpellier. It is a bustling metropolis, youthful thanks to a large university. There is a beautiful “old town”, a pedestrian area, where you can stroll without traffic and where the city’s noise is far away. Are you interested in architecture you should not miss the relatively new district Antigone, designed by the Catalan architect Bofill.
But after a few days in Montpellier you are probably longing for the vineyards. They are not far; they actually begin at the city limits. Some wineries are even inside the city boundary. An hour’s drive north and you end up in Pic Saint Loup, one hour north-west and you are in the Terrasses du Larzac, an hour and a half straight west and you wind up in Faugères and Saint Chinian.
Or you can follow the Mediterranean Sea to the south, passing the beautiful city of Sète with its canals that makes you feel as if you are in Venice, and the oyster farms in the Bassin de Thau. Shortly you arrive in Narbonne, where Charles Trenet wrote the most famous tribute to the Mediterranean, “La Mer”.
Narbonne is in the Corbières, one of our favourite regions in Languedoc. Along the winding roads in the hilly and sometimes quite desolate landscape we see vines that are struggling together with aromatic wild herbs in the poor soil. Here the Cathars lived in the 13th century. Ruins of their chateaux can still be seen on some mountain peaks. If you follow the “route des châteaux Cathar” you get to see them all.
In short, the Languedoc is a wonderful place to visit not only for its excellent wines and its food and gastronomy but also for its history and the beautiful landscape.
You can come on one of our wine and food tours to the Languedoc if you want to experience a few wonderful days in the region. It can also be a good idea to spend a few additional days to have time for some more exploration.
