The cities and towns of Languedoc-Roussillon are historic and lively at the same time. They offer a unique art of living: shady sidewalk cafes where people sit chatting for hours on end year round, lazy strolls through a maze of narrow, winding streets to places in the heart of town that rushing tourists never get to see, and shopping in boutiques that welcome you like a friend.
Montpellier is a cultural, scientific and artistic crossroad with an incomparable heritage.
The narrow streets, lined by many 17th- and 18th-century mansions, lead to St Peter's cathedral, the western world' s oldest medical school, the Place Royale du Peyrou and the botanical gardens created during the reign of Henry IV.
Nimes, a beautiful, laid-back bourgeois city, displays its ancient roots and, during the Whitsun and Grape Harvest festivals, becomes an outpost of Spain, with bodegas vibrating all night to the beat of penas.
Uzes, near the border of Provence, proudly recalls its episcopal, consular and ducal past with its castle and lavish townhouses.
Beziers, in the heart of the Languedoc wine country, is marked by its cathedral that stands proudly between L'Orb and the Canal du Midi. Beziers' s proximity to Spain is also evident here: the bullfights in August set the town alight.
Nearby Pezenas and its magnificent stately homes and 17th-century mansions lining narrow streets plunge you into a delightfully refined atmosphere.
The fabulous, perfectly preserved medieval town of Carcassonne stands witness to 2,500 years of history and 1,000 years of military architecture, with the earliest fortifications dating back to the sixth century.
Narbonne, the Visigoth kings' former residence and capital of the Roman Septimania, is devoted to the Mediterranean art of living and marks the dividing line between Languedoc and Roussillon. The Archbishop' s Palace in the historic town and its 40-metre high fortified tower stand on the ruins of the Gallo-Roman ramparts and the Via Domitia, overlooking the town.
Perpignan, at the foot of the Pyrenees, is graced with the heritage of the kings of Majorca. In the 20th century, Salvador Dali called it the "centre of the world" because Picasso, Miro, Matisse, Derain and Chagall worked there creating new styles of painting. |
