Nice is in the south of France. The Queen of the French Riviera, which the French call ” la Cote d’Azur” (AzureCoast or Blue Coast). It is a wonderful city with lots of charm and character; a mixture of French and Italian cultures where the people are easy-going and friendly even if you don’t speak French.

Although you might think it is a summer resort, you can visit Nice at any time of the year and still have a good time.

If you happen to go in the winter, you will be surprised to see flowers in their numerous parks and gardens. Nice has a Mediterranean winter, so the temperature stays around 40 to 50 degrees during the coldest months but if you like skiing, ski resorts such as Valberg and Isola 2000 can be reached by car in one or two hours.

If you go in the summer, get ready to share the city with lots of tourists. The popular streets where most restaurants and cafes are, can get crowded, but they can be a lot of fun if you enjoy people watching; and since most of the streets are closed to traffic, it is not hard to just walk around and enjoy the upbeat atmosphere.

Nice has a major airport and its close location to the city makes getting there a cinch.

Finding a hotel should be easy, since there are plenty of accommodations for all kinds of budgets. The author is a frequent guest of the Meridien Hotel, a 4 star hotel located on the Promenade des Anglais, facing the Bay of Angels (Baie des Anges).

-Things to see in Nice:

-Promenade des Anglais.

The Victorian English residents of the 1800′s provided the funds to build the beautiful boulevard, hence its name.
It is a wide avenue that follows the bay’s coast line and it’s lined with beautiful palm trees and flowers.

-Hotel Negresco.

Beautiful and glamorous, it is located at 37 Promenade des Anglais and if you are not rich enough to stay there, you must go and see it.

-Old Nice.

Winding narrow streets with Italianate buildings painted in earthly colors, describes this old part of the city. You will enjoy strolling, people watching and quaint little shops full of charming provencal crafts.

-Marche aux Fleurs.

Located on the Cours Saleya, the flower market is Open Tuesday through Sunday, 7am-5pm, but if you decide to go, check with your hotel for the hours of operation. You can also have lunch or dinner there, where a large variety of restaurants set up tables and chairs outside where you can dine in a pleasant and fun atmosphere.

-Marc Chagall Museum.

If you like modern art, you can catch a glimpse of the painter’s most important collection. The hours of operation vary depending on the season so check with your hotel clerk before you go.

Nice is so well located that you can take half-day and full-day trips either by car or by public transportation.

Easily reached towns by car or public transportation are:
Monaco, Eze, Grasse, St Paul de Vence, Cannes and St Tropez.

-Monaco-

A symbol of glamour and elegance, Monaco sits on a beautiful stretch of the Mediterranean coast. Its most famous town Monte Carlo, has much to offer with its casinos, boutiques and exotic gardens. Don’t forget to visit the village of Monaco, located high on “the rock” as it is affectionally called by the locals. It is a charming town with shops and cafes and a wonderful view of the sea.

-Eze-

This small medieval village perched on a hill is a must see. Both tourists and artists flock to Eze during the summer months because of its picturesque setting and magnificent vues.

If you are staying in Nice, you can make it a half-day trip or just stop there for lunch and continue to Monaco for a full-day trip. If you are feeling rich, have lunch at the Chevre d’Or. The restaurant offers fine cuisine and breathtaking panoramas. The restaurant is only open for lunch.

-Grasse-

Considered the perfume capital of France Grasse is a small hilly town with beautiful parks and panoramic views. If you go to Grasse, you must visit the perfume factories. The biggest is Parfumerie Fragonard. An English speaking guide will show you the process of extracting the perfume from hundreds of pounds of flower petals.

-St Paul de Vence-

A picture perfect medieval town, sitting on top of a hill, St Paul de Vence has been painted by many artists and photographed by thousands of tourists. It is located 19 miles from Nice. Enjoy a meal at the famous Colombe d’Or Restaurant or sip a beer at an outdoor cafe while watching a local game of petanque.

-Cannes-

Cannes sits on the shores of La Napoule bay, sorrounded by a backdrop of Mediterranean hills. While Nice has the Promenade des Anglais, Cannes has la Croisette Boulevard, an elegant promenade, lined with palm trees and and gardens. Cannes hosts the famous Cannes Film Festival every year and it is most favored by celebrities. So if you go, make sure to do a lot of people watching, because you never know…

-St Tropez-

Once a small fishing village, St Tropez is now a summer place for the jet set. Its setting on the southern shore of France, made it attractive to turn-of-the-century artists who were then followed by writers, poets and eventually movie stars and their fans. It is now internationally famous.

So get your tickets, book your hotel and go to the south of France. I promise you will have an unforgettable experience.

Alice Flowers is a former airline employee and now writes articles on travel.
Visit the author’s website at: http://www.traveltips101.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/135834

Discover The Pyrenees!

This stunning part of Southern France is very popular place for alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and more! Although not as well known as the Alps, The Pyrenees are something of hidden gem! It’s resorts are not as busy as the Alps and have a wonderful charm all of their own. Click here for Skiing Holidays!

Skiing (site en Français)

Location…

The Pyrenees mountain range forms a natural border between France and Spain and stretches from the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea. It’s about 400km long and 70km wide. Andorra is also situated in the Pyrenees. See Map below:

The main skiing resorts in the Pyrenees (listed by departments)…

Pyrénées Atlantiques
Arette
Artouste
Col d’Aubisque
Gourette
Iraty
Lanne / Issarbe
Le Somport / Candanchu
Pierre Saint-Martin
Pont de Camps-Fabrèges

Hautes Pyrénées
Barèges
Campan-Payolle
Cauterets
Gavarnie – Gèdre
Hautacam
La Mongie
Le Tourmalet
Luz Ardiden
Nistos
Piau Engaly
Saint-Lary Soulan
Val d’Azun
Val Louron

Haute Garonne
Le Mourtis
Peyragudes
Superbagnères

Ariège
Andorre (principauté)
Ascou-Pailhères
Ax les Thermes
Etang de Lers
Goulier Neige
Guzet
Le Chioula
Les Monts d’Olmes
Mijanes – Donezan
Plateau de Beille

Aude
Camurac

Pyrénées Orientales
Capcir
Font Romeu
Formiguères
La Quillane
Le Cambre d’Aze
Les Angles
Porte Puymorens
Puigmal
Puyvalador Rieutort
Saint-Pierre Cambre d’Aze

Click here for Skiing Holidays!

Skiing (site en Français)

Discover Lascaux caves in southwestern France so famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old.

The cave contains nearly 2,000 figures, which can be grouped into three main categories — animals, human figures and abstract signs. In recent years, new research has suggested that the Lascaux paintings may incorporate prehistoric star charts.

Most of the major images have been painted onto the walls using mineral pigments, although some designs have also been incised into the stone.

In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley.

Southern France – Rose Wine, Roman Ruins and Hemingway…

During the height of the Roman Empire, from the 1st century BC to 1st century AD, its territories extended through out southern France, most notably in the Gard Department. Engineering marvels, that helped extend Roman control over the southern border of France and the Mediterranean, are now in ruins and scattered across the landscape in the Gard department. One of the most majestic and notable Roman structures is the Pont du Gard, an aqueduct that channeled water from the Eure River near Uzes, across the Gardon River down to the south and the town of Nimes.

Today, the Pont du Gard sits majestically stretched over the Gardon River, like a beautiful piece of sculpture. It is surrounded by a natural environment, forests on either side, the river flowing beneath its limestone arches and the sun turning the aqueduct into a beautiful warm ochre color. Three tiers of arches create one of the tallest pieces of Roman architecture in France and the slight angle that has been created to provide momentum to the water, give the bridge a lopsided appearance. Ancient olive trees, hundreds of years old, are entrenched near the foot of the perfectly engineered arches that form the centuries old bridge. The white pebble riverbed cuts a wide path through the rugged forest weaving like a snake down to the villages below, allowing the passage of its precious cargo, water.

Closer towards the Mediterranean, the Gard department meets the ocean in a series of coastal marshes called the Camargue. The marsh is surrounded by channels of fresh water that form a natural environment that is home to pink flamingoes and wild horses. Aigues Mortes is an ancient village in the Petite Camargue surrounded by medieval walls built during the 1200′s. During the first week in October, in preparation for the running of the bulls, the village gets loud. Rock bands play in the center downtown waiting for the release of the bulls inside the city walls. The town is also the setting for “The Garden of Eden” written by Ernest Hemingway.

Gard department has two regions of wine; the Costeries de Nimes and Vin de Pays des Sable du Golfe du Lion. The prevalent wine of both of these regions is a rose wine. The rose wines seem to flourish in the hot humid climate and the sandy soils that is typical of the Camargue, a salt marsh area south of Nimes and Uzes, that runs parallel to the Mediterranean coast.

The major independent wine producer in this area is Listel. Established in 1883, they were one of the few vineyards that survived the Phylloxera fungus that decimated France in the late 1800′s. It was the eco climate of the Camargue and the periodic flooding of salt marshes that prevented the fungus from being established on the Listel vines. Today Listel produces 80% of the Rose wines from the Camargue on their 5,000 acre domain and is very proud that their vines do not have any American rootstock.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Kay_Jenkins
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3633351

Montpellier: once and future city

Tradition and innovation combine to evoke the soul of Montpellier…

A tranquil wine estate, complete with noble château, sits in the midst of a very urban, very modern area of light industry and IT offices. Three kilometres away a violinmaker works intently in a studio adjoining a medieval square, delicately honing the maple back of an instrument being made to order for a Korean soloist. Montpellier is a city of semi-secret gems and surprise delights.

Most visitors to the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon come to wander the maze of alleyways in the city’s ancient heart and to take in its must-see sights: the exceptional Musée Fabre with its fabulous collection of Impressionist paintings and works by Pierre Soulages; and the elegant town mansions, or hôtels particuliers, around the centre – most notably Hôtel deVarennes at 2 place Petrarque (which today houses the Museum of OldMontpellier). But this is also a city of rich and radical extremes. And from its medieval core to its urban vineyard, its contemporary architecture, and its international art scene, it is a vibrant jumble.

There’s an almost overwhelming sense of vitality here. The eighth-largest city in France, Montpellier has a youthful population (a good third of its residents are under 25 years old) and a near-tangible atmosphere of innovation. A striking new town hall, designed by the country’s renowned architect Jean Nouvel, is nearing completion in the southern Port Marianne district; a state-of-the-art new shopping and entertainment complex, Odysseum, lies just east of this area; a new, third tram line with styling by Christian Lacroix is under construction. Yet among all the change and development this is a place where the past is very much honoured and where innovation embraces tradition – which has been skilfully adapted and updated for the present.

Château de Flaugergues is perhaps the finest example of this blend. Montpellier’s silicon valley, the Millénaire district, has grown up around its rolling vineyards of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault and other grape varieties. From a host of mini-roundabouts and office developments in this eastern part of the city you turn down a dirt-track drive and abruptly find yourself in another world. The domaine was established by an artistocrat, Etienne de Flaugergues, in 1698 and today is run by the 10th and 11th generations of his family. They inhabit the same gracious house that he built, maintain the stunningly beautiful gardens that have been developed here over the centuries, and produce award-winning AOC Coteaux du Languedoc wine and vins de pays from the zealously protected land. There is a typically modern twist, of course: while some of the wine is sold to European outlets (the Cuvée Rosé and the Cuvée Sommelière are available at Majestic Wine in the UK for example), more and more is exported to newly developing markets in China and Thailand.

Visitors are invited to taste the wines and wander the extensive grounds – a formal French garden of neatly clipped box hedge and a wilder jardin Britanique complete with orangery and a glorious grove of bamboos. The gracious 18th-century house itself can be visited by appointment between October and May, and during the summer months it is open most afternoons for guided tours. The guide explains how the château was one of a number of “follies”, grand houses built outside the city among the leaves (les feuilles, hence the word “folly”).

The exterior of this property is neat and unadorned, the interior magnificent. You are taken up a sweeping staircase to a succession of salons that are still lived in, and down to the library and dining room complete with Roman glassware and Limoges porcelain. Contrary to any lingering expectations of aristocratic aloofness, there is nothing stuffy here. Visitors are frequently greeted by Etienne de Flaugergues’s descendants, the Colbert family. Henri Colbert and his son Pierre are not only the winemakers here, but also the hosts. Pierre is frequently on hand at Le Folia, the chic lunchtime restaurant he and his wife, Marie, opened in the grounds last August, the menu well complemented by Flaugergues wines.

There’s further food innovation a short distance away at Odysseum shopping complex across the A9 from the château and its vineyard. On the first floor you’ll find Cabiron, a stylish shop selling chocolates and exquisite, brightly coloured macaroons. Flavours range from pistachio to chocolate, chestnut and lime and are concocted by the Cabiron brothers, Gérard and Bernard, who are much acclaimed in Montpellier for their originality and creativity.

Over in the heart of Montpellier, about a 10-minute tram ride to the west, Bernard also runs the Marquise de Sévigné boutique, selling the finest of chocolates along with macaroons and the local speciality, grisettes de Montpellier: tiny, honey-flavoured candies with a hint of liquorice. Here, in the medieval centre of the city, you’ll also find a host of other craft enterprises. In fact one of the best ways of exploring its warren of lanes is to follow a trail of artisans’ workshops. Ateliers St Roch is an association of craftspeople whose studios and little shops are dotted around the vicinity of Place de St Roch – you can pick up a small map of their outlets from the tourist office and spend a happy hour or so visiting ceramicists, jewellers, glassmakers and more.

Perhaps best of all, though, are the stringed instrument makers of Montpellier. The city is home to 11 luthiers, highly skilled artisans who create world-class violins, violas and cellos. This year for the first time they have organised a festival celebrating their work. So between the last few days of April and the start of May the public will have the privilege of being able to hear these instruments being played; they will also have the opportunity to watch some of them being produced. Thereafter the festival is due to held every two years.

What to see and do

Château de Flaugergues, 1744 avenue Albert Einstein (00 33 4 99 526 637; flaugergues.com). Open Mon-Sat (and Sunday afternoons during June, July and September) for wine tasting/buying and for unguided garden tours (€6) 9.30am-12.30pm and 2.30-7pm. Chateau open for guided tours June, July and September Tues-Sun 2.30-7pm and at other times by appointment; adults €8.50

Musée Fabre, 39 boulevard Bonne Nouvelle (00 33 4 67 14 83 00; museefabre.fr) Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday 10am-6pm; Wednesday 1-9pm; Saturday 11-6pm. Adults €6.

Ateliers St Roch craft studios in the heart of the city include 500 Degrés at 14 rue en Gondeau (00 33 4 67 91 02 88) for ceramics; Atelier Myriam A (00 33 6 10 51 97 23) at 6 rue Alexandre for pottery and glass; La Boutique de Kiara (kiaracreation.com) at 9 rue des Flammes for jewellery; Elisa Johnston (00 33 4 67 60 28 61) for one-off designs from shirts to skirts.

Cabiron, Odysseum (00 33 4 99 64 58 54); Marquise de Sévigné, 4 rue de la Barralerie (00 33 4 67 66 36 90).

Fête des Luthiers, a celebration of stringed-instrument makers, runs from 25 April-1 May. Exhibitions, concerts and demonstrations of violin and cello making will be taking place at the Conservatoire Sainte-Anne music school on Place Sainte-Anne (for details, see fetedesluthiers.com).

More information

Montpellier Tourist Office, 30 Allée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (00 33 4 67 60 60 60; ot-montpellier.fr).

Article by GAVIN CORBETT – The Independent

Var is best known for its Côte d’Azur resort of Saint-Tropez and the great naval port of Toulon, but it’s an essentially rural department, a place of little villages, small food producers and world-class wineries…

I’M WOKEN by a whisper, and then a shout. A mistral is hissing through the pines outside my cabin, carrying on it the voices of soldiers from a nearby army base, who are singing (if that’s the right word) the praises of Mother France in a cappella unison.

It’s going to be a fine day: they say in these parts that the mistral – the characteristic wind of Mediterranean France – clears the air, sweeping away the clouds. It also promises to keep things pleasantly cool for my next few hours’ exploration of the Var department of Provence.

I set out from Holiday Green, one of a number of excellently appointed campsites in this region. This one is vast, spread over 15 undulating, forested acres just outside the town of Fréjus. It’s a top-class facility, with everything the camper could need. I haven’t had to drag a caravan behind me to secure a berth here either – most of the site is given over to permanent and very comfortable cabins.

The Var is best known for its Côte d’Azur resort of Saint-Tropez and the great naval port of Toulon, but it’s an essentially rural department, a place of little villages and small food producers and world-class wineries, and it’s inland and upland where I head on this trip.

The Musée des Artes et Traditions Populaires (dracenie.com) in Draguignan puts me in the picture: exhibits on shepherding, beekeeping and cork-making depict a timeless way of life, but you only have to walk the town’s streets to see how cherished and unchanged traditions are here.

It’s as if life itself has its own protective appellation d’origine contrôllée stamp: the boulangerie is the first port of call on any day, the busy market sells terroir produce as it has done twice-weekly for decades, and pampered poodles are scooped up into Citroen 2CVs by elegant old ladies on the way back from salons de thé.

The road north of Draguignan climbs higher until you reach Châteaudouble, perched dramatically on a tumble of terraces and commanding an eagle’s nest view of the mouth of the Nartuby gorge.

A refreshing pastis by the boules pitch sets me up for the short journey to Bargemon, a favourite with international artists, whose presence gives the village a delightfully dotty character.

The contemporary art gallery is owned by English couple Guy and Michèle Beddington. Their home just outside town (beddington fineart.com) is open to the public and worth a visit for its sculpture garden, with pieces from more than 70 artists spread among the bushes like an avant-garde division of Xian’s terracotta army.

To the south of Draguignan is the largely 16th-century village of Roquebrune, which sits across the Argens plain from a huge, Martian-like plinth of red rock. The village is very pretty – full of narrow lanes, footpaths shaded under arcades and ochre-coloured houses with verdigris- and eggshell-painted shutters.

There are a couple of interesting museums here. The Maison du Patrimonie (roque brune.com) has a great collection of ex-voto folk paintings, while the Maison du Chocolat (paysmeresterel.com) houses an evocative assortment of advertising and packaging from all of Europe’s great chocolate makers, and is itself housed inside a 17th-century chapel where a large statue of JC himself looks down on the exhibits.

Another curious mix of the epicurean and the ecclesiastic is in evidence at the Château Sainte Roseline winery (sainte-roseline.com) near the village of Les Arcs. A tour of the estate’s vineyards and a dégustation in the cellar is, of course, recommended, but the real treasure here is the on-site chapel.

Its most spectacular feature is a Marc Chagall mural, Le Repas des Anges , completed in 1975. Though bracingly modern in style, it honours the 14th-century saint for whom the estate and chapel are named, and whose body lies on display nearby in a crystal casket. (Her disembodied eyes, ghoulishly vivid, stare out from a separate reliquary.)

These days poor Roseline is looking not so much beatific as a dark shade of beetroot, although her legend is so powerful that even the rival Château Font du Broc winery (chateau-fontdubroc.com), just down the road, has embraced her. That estate built a massive vaulted stone cellar in 1997 to serve not just as a wine store but as a venue for wedding receptions.

On the night before the first reception was set to be held, the cellar collapsed – if it had happened hours later, many people might have been killed. Praise was deemed due to Roseline, and a chapel was dedicated to her in thanks for her apparent act of divine intervention.

THE VAR IS packed with historic sites – Fréjus, in particular, is a bounty of Roman and medieval attractions – but a holiday here is less about following lines on a tourist map than the accretion of simple, sensual experiences.

One thing every visitor must do in these summer months is get out into the garrigue – the wild provencal meadowland – for a picnic. Joy it is to fill a basket with a bottle of Côtes de Provence rosé, a fresh baguette, a chunk of goat’s cheese, a can of olive oil and a fist full of feves (sweet beans in the pod) from a market stall, and negotiate your way over bone-dry twigs to a clearing among untamed and intensely scented lavender, rosemary and thyme. All the while keeping an eye out for charging packs of wild boar, of course.

Taking a picnic to the Estérel hills nature park (decouverte delesterel.com) just to the east of St Raphael, is strictly controlled, but it offers a sample of Provence in the raw. Entrance to the park is carefully monitored too, and just before nightfall rangers sweep its dauntingly large acreage as best they can for campers – it’s a sort of 24-hour lock-up garrigue, as it were.

There are hardly any roads here, and virtually no buildings. If some of the villages further inland give a flavour of provencal life before mobile phones and hypermarkets, the Estérel Massif feels like Provence before civilisation itself. From the park’s coastal track, Cannes shimmers in the distance, which only increases the sense of splendid isolation.

IT’S HARD NOT to submit to the lure of the jetset, if only for a couple of hours, though. You can take a trip on a catamaran from the pleasant resort of Saint-Raphael up and down the Riviera (amcazur.com).

I went as far as Cap Draumont, where the Estérel hills fall to the sea in sheer red cliffs, around the Ile d’Or, and back. I don’t think I’ve ever sunbathed in such decadent circumstances (at any moment I expected the bassline from Rio by Duran Duran to crash the peace) although the captain did rope me in to help hoist the sail.

Provence of the imagination is a land of two extremes. On the one hand there’s the glitz of Bardot and La Croisette; on the other, the pastoral idylls of Peter Mayle, Jean de Florette and Vincent van Gogh’s landscapes. Tourists too often beat the well-worn trails up the Riviera or west to Arles and Saint-Rémy without stopping in between.

Those places are full of excitement and charm, of course, but for anyone who loves France – who has ever gone into a daze at the first crackle of an Edith Piaf record, or walked into a l’Occitane shop and fallen immediately into a reverie – the Var offers something truly wonderful: the real Provence, if it exists at all, is to be found right here.

Article by GAVIN CORBETT – Irish Times

Discover the Fortified City of Carcassonne…

The historic city of Carcassonne is an excellent example of a medieval fortified town whose massive defences were constructed on walls dating from late antiquity. It is of exceptional significance by virtue of the restoration work carried out in the second half of the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, which had a profound influence on subsequent developments in conservation principles and practice.

Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. The earliest known occupation of the site dates from the 6th century BC, when a protohistoric hill fort (oppidum ) was built on this rocky spur overlooking the valley of the Aude and the ancient routes linking the Atlantic with the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula with the rest of Europe. In the 1st century BC, this settlement, Carcaso Volcarum Tectosagum, became the Latin Colonia Iulia Carcaso in 27 BC. During the turbulent years of the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, it was protected by the construction of a defensive wall some 1,200 m long. The fortifications, consisting of two lines of walls and a castle, which is itself surrounded by fortifications, extend over a total length of 3 km. Their line largely follows that of the Roman defences, and these are clearly visible over two-thirds of the total length. The Roman walls were strengthened by horseshoe-shaped bastions at roughly regular intervals. The masonry is in characteristic late Roman style: rubble cores faced with courses of dressed ashlars intersected by courses of bricks and built on concrete foundations. The Porte Narbonnaise on the eastern side and the Porte de l’Aude on the west are particularly elaborate defensive works.

It came under Visigothic rule in the 5th century and resisted repeated attempts by the Franks to capture it. The Arabs were more successful in 724, but were driven out in 759, after a siege led by Pepin the Short. The Visigothic period saw the creation of a bishopric at Carcassonne, some time in the 6th century. It is probably that a cathedral was built here, on the site of the present Romanesque cathedral, on which work began in June 1096.

The 12th-century count’s castle was built over the western part of the Roman walls; it was surrounded by a rectangular fortified enclosure in 1226. By the end of the 13th century the town had assumed its definitive appearance as a medieval fortress. A local revolt in 1262 caused the king to expel most of the inhabitants. He allowed them to settle on the other side of the river, where the new town that they set up was itself fortified in 1347.

The main body of the cathedral, dedicated to St Nazaire and St Celse, consists of a central six-bayed nave with an interrupted barrel vault and two narrow side-aisles rising to almost the same height and fully vaulted. The transverse arches of the barrel vaulting spring alternately from square columns surrounded by embedded columns and round pillars. The original Romanesque choir was replaced in the later 13th century by an imposing High Gothic structure. This is a large transept with a six-sided apse at its eastern end. It is at variance with the practice in the High Gothic cathedrals of northern France, where the choir itself was stressed; accenting the transept is more in keeping with a Romanesque tradition, which here is gothicized. Its exterior, like that of most southern French Gothic churches, has no flying buttresses, stability being assured by means of the interior vaulting. It contains some important sculpture, notably the 13th-century tomb of Bishop Radulph. The stained glass in the windows of the apse and the transept is of exceptionally high quality. Three periods can be distinguished: late 13th century, early 14th century and 16th century.

Carcassonne is also of exceptional importance because of the lengthy restoration campaign undertaken in the latter half of the 19th century by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, one of the founders of the modern science of conservation.

Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC

Carcassonne was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997

Discover the Sigean Safari Park or “Réserve Africaine de Sigean”…

This park is situated eight kilometres from the town of Sigean in the Aude department of Languedoc. It’s in a beautiful setting surrounded by  ponds and natural Mediterranean vegetation, it stretches over 660 acres of woods, scrubland and lagoons. The park holds over 3800 animals and reptiles and approximately 160 different species of birds.

It has recreated equatorial habitats which you can explore by car or on foot and see hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, giraffes, elephants, camels, alligators, lions and springboks in their natural environment. There is a bird reserve and lagoon with over a thousand birds, pink flamingos, ibis, storks and pelicans. The park has an island full of chimpanzees. The section of the safari park where the lions and Tibetan bears live and roam is only accessible by car with windows and sunroof locked. You can complete the visit in about three hours (one hour in the car and two hours on foot).

Sigean Safari Park is open every day from 9.00 am to 9.00 pm.

Rates : Adults 27 Euros, Children 21 Euros. There are special group rates available.

Address:19, Chemin Hameau du Lac – RD 6009 – 11130 SIGEAN (FRANCE) – Tél : (33) 4 68 48 20 20 – Fax : (33) 4 68 48 80 85

How to get there:

BY ROAD “RD 6009″ La Réserve Africaine de Sigean is 15 km south of Narbonne and 8 km north of Sigean

BY MOTORWAY
-Coming from Perpignan : leave the Motorway at Sigean (exit n° 39)
-Coming from Montpellier or Toulouse : leave the Motorway at Narbonne Sud (exit n° 38) and take the RD 6009 in the direction of Sigean/Perpignan

GPS LOCALISATION
· 43° 03′ 46.25 North
· 02° 56′ 59.43 East

BY TRAIN (the nearest train stations)
· Train station in Narbonne and Port-la-Nouvelle : station located about 15 km from the Réserve Africaine de Sigean.
· Liaison Taxis from Narbonne
· Liaison Taxis from Port-la-Nouvelle
· Liaison Car Rentals from Narbonne

BY PLANE (the nearest airports)
· Carcassonne Airport
Located about 70 km from the Réserve Africaine de Sigean.
· Liaison Taxis
· Liaison Car Rentals

· Béziers Airport
Located about 40 km from the Réserve Africaine de Sigean.
· Liaison Taxis
· Liaison Car Rentals

· Perpignan Airport
Located about 50 km from the Réserve Africaine de Sigean
· Liaison Taxis
· Liaison Car Rentals

Go on Safari © The South of France Guide

France’s fabled Riviera is a wondrous place – the time-honoured playground of the rich and famous – but summertime’s crush turns it into a hellhole.

Those in the know turn west and head towards the Spanish frontier. Here, deep in Languedoc, lies the Hérault département, a relaxing environment that offers rolling countryside dotted with vineyards, along with uncrowded beaches and a generally laid-back ambience.

It’s here that, like so many British couples, Richard ‘Rocky’ Simpson-Birks and his wife Barbara have made their home. They have also set up a fascinating business that allows others to share their serendipity.

La Pause Parfaite is a simple but clever concept. Aiming at cash rich, time poor business people seeking a break from the daily grind without all that hassle that can so easily turn a relaxing break into a stress-laden bad experience, Richard and Barbara offer their guests an all-inclusive chauffer accompanied service that includes everything from limousine transportation throughout the stay to pre-booked, pre-paid meals in some of the best local restaurants and guided visits to wineries and other attractions.

They can even offer private executive jet flights to Beziers, just 30 kms away, through Jet Booking Direct, while there are scheduled flight options via Nimes, Montpellier, Carcassonne and Perpignan, all within 70 minutes drive, or Toulouse, Marseille or Gerona, which are just over two hours away.

“We take care of all the client’s travel, eating, drinking and relaxing needs within a pre-determined all-inclusive price,” says Barbara.

Accommodation is in a choice of traditional country hotels and private villas. I stayed in the couple’s beautifully restored L’Hermitage property.

Bordeaux and Burgundy are better known, but Languedoc has a very real claim to be the wine capital of France – at least in terms of sheer volume of production.

It’s claimed that breezes coming in off the Med imbue the wines of Herault with a subtly distinctive taste.

Particularly favoured by those in the know are the rosés, which are a little more full-bodied than those from other regions. The Coteaux de Languedoc appellation offers some classy reds while unctuously sweet dessert wines are made from the Muscat grape at Frontignan and Lunel, where a major wine tourism centre is due to open by next year.

I visited the 50 hectares of vines at Mas de Daumas Gassac (+33 467 577 128) which, along with some superb vintages, also produces luxuriant oils, the finest of which, branded as Huile Paradoxe, combines 55 per cent of extra virgin olive oil with 45 per cent of grape seed oil.

At the atmospheric Domaine Savary de Beauregard, the charmingly personable Christophe Savary de Beauregard – a real live French count – offers not only his exceptional wines but the opportunity to stay as a guest in one of two welcoming gîtes, set among the vines and just five minutes from the local village and half-an-hour from the sea.

Another fine location favoured by La Pause Parfaite is the converted dovecot at Château Capion, which also offers an apartment in the main house. The 50 hectares of vineyard here produce a range of superior reds, whites and rosés.

The Pézenas area is filled with art and history that inspired the noted playwright Molière.

Horse riding beside the beautiful Lac Salagon provides riders of all abilities with a wonderful trek through the garrigue, breathing in the heady aroma of wild lavender, thyme and other herbs. Wind surfing, water skiing, canoeing, kayaking, white water rafting and sailing are all available locally.

There’s also mile on mile of waymarked rambling and mountain bike trails while road cycling is a delight – thanks to very low traffic levels on the region’s pretty byways.

Once you have explored the countryside and are seeking something livelier, head for the seaside resort of Cap d’Agde, renowned for its seafood. Here you can discover the secrets of local cuisine through a cookery class at Gastronomicom (+33 979 010720). Master chef Iman Bogen conducts lessons in a wonderful flow of intermingled French and English.

Séte, built on a network of canals is also a must-visit. It is situated on the 28 km long Etang de Thau. In the lee of Mont St. Clair, this picturesque 17th Century port was purpose built to serve the wine trade. It’s like Venice, but without the crowds.

The Etang is a salt water lagoon into which runs the famed 240-km long Canal du Midi, a 17th Century engineering miracle and now a recognised World Heritage Site. Some 12,000 workers were involved in the canal’s construction, which was completed n 1681.

Succulent molluscs are grown at the La Grande Bleu oyster farm, just outside the little port of Marseillan. They match well with the locally produced Noilly Prat vermouth and made a glorious prelude to a sailing trip across the lagoon with local character Bernard at the helm.

Turn inland along the Canal du midi towpath and you’ll reach the bustling market town – and rugby football mecca – of Béziers, which is also the terminal town of the useful overnight motorail service from Calais, which enables tourists to bring their cars south without the usual two days or more of tedious autoroute driving.

As well as the canal, water lovers will find the tranquil River Orb, which flows beneath a graceful 10-arch mediaeval bridge in the shadow of the hilltop cathedral to provide the city’s classic panorama.

Béziers has had a turbulent history, having been a centre for the Cathars, whose take on religion flourished in the 12th and 13th Centuries but was regarded as deep heresy to be ruthlessly persecuted into extinction.

Further inland still there’s the amazing staircase of locks at Fonsérannes and the breathtakingly beautiful walled city of Carcassonne.

Founded by the Romans, Balarue-les-Bains is the third biggest spa resort in all France – renowned for its mineral mud treatments. Here they offer relaxation and wellbeing as well as curative programmes.

Why visit Herault?

Sun, sea and sand; yes. But also enticing countryside, flourishing vineyards, great cuisine and a laid-back way of life

Article by Roger St Pierre – Belfast Telegraph



These restaurants are all just outside Nice and you’ll need a car (or bus) to get there.

Expensive:

In these expensive restaurants, I’d advise ordering their “Menu Desgustation”, if you can handle large quantities of delicious food and are curious. This literally translates to “Tasting Menu” and usually reflects the best available and each tiny course is designed to complement the whole selection well. The advantage is not having to have the menu translated and you can almost guarantee that the food will be great. The waiter will generally go over the contents of each course to avoid your getting something that you won’t like.

Editor’s advice: go hungry and with a lot of time (and no children), don’t fill up on the bread and be adventurous about trying lots of new things and you’ll probably enjoy the various edible art forms that keep arriving at the table. Note: a Menu Degustation tends to be at least 7 small courses, spaced throughout an evening that should be accompanied by good company and conversation.

Chez Jerome.

Fabulous regional Haut Cuisine. This very imaginative restaurant is constantly changing its menu to take advantage of the seasons and probably to satisfy the creative desires of the chef. Terrace. Not recommended for children.

20, rue Comte de Cessole
06 320 La Turbie
FRANCE

La Reserve de Beaulieu

This gorgeous restaurant fully deserves the 2 Michelin stars that it has been awarded. Along with the faultless and enjoyable cuisine is wonderful relaxing service. There is nothing “stuffy” about this most perfect restaurant and everyone, including children, are made to feel completely at home. Terrace.

5, boulevard du Marechal Leclerc
06310 Beaulieu-sur-Mer
France

La Chaumiere

Wonderful rustic food served in copious quantities. Meats are perfectly BBQ-ed in the fireplace. Not specially recommended for children.

384,
Boulevard, de l’Observatoire
06300 Nice
France

La Colombe D’Or

This famous restaurant by the medieval walled village of Saint Paul de Vence was put on the map by now famous artists who supposedly exchanged paintings for food. They have great Provencal cuisine and if you love interesting salads, then do try La Maison Hors D’Oeuvre -14 different dishes and which comes with a basket of vegetables and anchovie dip which is delicious, fresh and totally unsual, if you are not used to provencal cuisine.

1 place du General-de-Gaulle
06570 St Paul de Vence
+33 49 332 8002

Inside Nice:

Moderately expensive:

L’Univers de Christian Plumail

Just outside the Old Town of Nice is this fabulous restaurant serving very sophisticated Provencal (country cooking from the south of France) cuisine. Terrace. This is probably my favorite restaurant for the price. Not recommended for children.

Great meals starting at 20 Euro (drinks excluded)

54 boulevard Jean Jaures
06300 NICE

La Zucca Magica

Great Italian vegetarian restaurant overlooking the Port of Nice. Not recommended for children.

4 quai Papacino
06048 Nice
France

Don Camillo Creations

An excellent Italian restaurant just outside the old town 1 block from the sea. Not recommended for children.

5 rue des Ponchettes
06300 Nice

Keisuke Matsushima

The Japanese chef, of the same, name moved to France just 11 years ago and has created this fashionable restaurant and is successfully fusing French and Japanese cuisines for which he has earned one Michelin star. Not recommended for children.

22 ter, rue de Franc
Nice 06000

Restaurants in the Old Town of Nice

La Voglia

This great Italian restaurant enjoyed success from the moment it opened its doors, which is not surprising considering the quality and quantity of food for the price. Desserts can require three people to finish! Come early as the place gets packed. Terrace. Highly recommended for children.

2, Rue Saint Francois de Paule,
06300 Nice

Le Safari

This restaurant serves freshly made authentic Nicoise cuisine, which is a little heavy when compared to most French restaurants in the south of France but well worth trying. Terrace. Recommended for children.

Le Safari
1 cours Saleya
06300 Nice

Tire Bouchon

Specializing in cuisine from Lyon, arguably the gastronomic capital of France, this excellent restaurant offers good value for the quality of food served. Terrace. Not recommended for children.

19 Rue de la Prefecture
06300 Nice, France

Chez Juliette

This might be one of the best value-for-money restaurants in the Old Town. One can enjoy their fairly sophisticated cuisine starting from 18 Euro for a 3 course meal. Terrace. Not recommended for children.

Address:
1 rue Rossetti
06300, Nice