SOMMIÈRES.
Beautifully placed between Montpellier & Nimes, an hour up the coast from Marseille towards Barcelona; Sommières, labelled « Petites Cités de Caractère », lies on the river Virdoule at the junction between the foothills of the Cevennes & the national park of the Camargue. The town has been a renowned trading post since Roman times and continues to boast a fabulously lively market and brocante (flea market) every Saturday throughout the year.
CAMARGUE & THE
coast.
The Camargue National Park has so many emblems: pink flamigos taking flight, white horses galloping through the wetlands, low skies, salt flats and white sandy beaches along the mediteraen sea. The horses of the Camargue are considered the most ancient breed of horses, worked by the Camargue cowboys, the Gardiens, who breed black bulls on the ranches. The remarkable walled city of Aigues Mortes, the port from which the Crusaders set out in the middle ages, the modernist pyramids of the Grand Motte, the seaside towm of St Marie de la Mer, and the glorious wide open beach of the Point l’Espiguette to name a few gems.
nimes,
pont du gard & uzes.
The most roman city outside Italy, Nimes is often called “the French Rome”. The monuments constructed in the first century are as good as new. The amphitheatre is still used as a stadium for festivals. The maybe true myth that denim is really “de Nimes”, from Nimes, a nod to the cities textiles’ past. A skip away is Pont du Gard, the aqueduct that supplied the water to the city. Storybook-pretty Uzès is renowned for its Renaissance architecture, a reminder of the days when it was the first duchy in France, artist studios abound & a market to rival our own.
montpellier, sete & THE lagoons.
Montpellier has been the fastest growing city in France for the last decade – as well as one of the most multicultural, vibrant & youthful. Relaxed, dynamic and cosmopolitan Montpellier is home to a maze of medieval alleys opening out onto large plazas. The port town of Sète, created at the mouth of "Canal du Midi" is just along the coast from where you can look down on the Etang de Thau lagoon where the highly sought-after oysters & moules of Bouziques are grown and of course Picpoul de Pinet is made in…Pinet.
cevennes & beautiful villages.
“Too poor to host cities, too rich to be abandoned” is how the landscape of les Cévennes is described by UNESCO. A kingdom of serenity with an incomparable profusion of natural riches. Hiking, whether on foot, on horseback, by bike, with a donkey or on a trail, remains without a doubt the best way to discover the National Park, to immerse yourself in the spirit of the place. Between us & the mountains are some of the most beautiful villages in France like Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and Sauve to name a couple.
arles & avignon.
Arles deserves a mention for the remarkable triumph of the Rencontres d’Arles, an annual summer photography festival, founded in 1970s, which has become internationally important over the last twenty years. A brilliant day out in a very pretty towm, not forgetting it’s most famous resident, Vincent van Gogh. Avignon, needs no introduction, it is a city full of history and full of life. Capital of the Vaucluse and the Côtes du Rhône, seat of the popes and a city of art and culture, theatre, cinema, museums, big stores and little shops, Avignon is a small city that has everything, and a bridge..