Foreign Perspectives

Just as France is huge, so too are some of the regions within it with the Languedoc-Roussillon area spanning a vast area stretching along the Mediterranean to Provence in the east.

Even we who should know better often think of “the Languedoc” as being countryside with a few hills yet we know that there are proper mountains less than an hour west of us (OK, not in the Languedoc). Similarly, we shouldn’t really expect to be surrounded by castles outside our own little corner of Languedoc-Roussillon. In fact, we’ve hardly explored the eastern edges of the region and have rarely passed Montpellier for that matter.

What’s quite striking is the difference in scenery that you get in travelling as little as 90 minutes from here. Last week, we had a little trip along the coast and came across the lovely Lake Saligou near Clermont L’Herault set in almost alpine scenery. I’m sure that it’s over-run with tourists in the Summer but we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves on a beautiful Spring afternoon.

This is part of our guide to the Pyrenees.