Languedoc/Roussillon

MENU OF VISIT - LANGUEDOC/ROUSSILLON

Agde (Hérault)
	AGATHA THE GREEK
Aigues Mortes (Gard)
	THE PORT OF ST. LOUIS
Alet les Bains (Aude)
	ROMAN SPAS AND POWERFUL ABBOTS
Arques (Aude)
	THE FRENCH CASTLE
Beziers (Hérault)
	FROM THE CRUSADES TO THE CANAL DU MIDI
Carcassonne (Aude)
	A FATAL SIEGE
Caunes minervois (Aude)
	THE BURNING OF A CATHARIST BISHOP
Collioure
	THE GEM OF THE VERMIGLIA COAST
Elne (Eastern Pyrenees)
	A THOUSAND YEARS OF GLORY
Fontfroide (Aude)
	FROM HERE CAME POPES AND INQUISITORS
Lagrass (Aude) - The Abbey of Santa-Marie
	AS POWERFUL AS A KINGDOM
Lastours (Aude)
	THE TORCHLIGHT PARADE COMMEMORATING THE PROVENÇAL RESISTANCE
Maguelone (Hérault)
	THE SECOND CHURCH AFTER ROME
Minerve (Hérault)
	CRUSADES AND FIRES
St. Martin de Londres (Herault)
	CHURCH AGAINST FEUDAL LORDS
Narbonne (Aude)
	CAPITAL OF THE ROMAN PROVINCE
Saint papoul (Aude)
	AN ARISTOCRATIC SAINT
Perpignan (Eastern Pyrenees)
	AN OBJECT OF DISPUTE
Peyrepertuse (Aude)
	FRONTIER WARS
Quarante (Aude)
	THE LOMBARD BUILDERS
Queribus (Aude)
	THE LAST STRONGHOLD
Saint- Hilaire (Aude)
	A CLOISTERED LIFE THAT WAS TOO OPEN
Rieux Minervois (Aude) - Church of Saint Mary
	DISPOSSESSED NOBILITY
St. Martin du Canigou (Eastern Pyrenees)
	THE DREAM OF A NOBLE HERMIT
Saint Martin de Fenollar (Eastern Pyrenees)
	A TREASURE AMONGST THE CORK TREES
St. Michel de Cuxa (Eastern Pyrenees)
	A SPOTLIGHT ON THE EUROPEAN MEDIEVAL ERA
Saint Gilles du Gard (Gard)
	AMONGST PILGRIMS AND CRUSADES
Saint Guilhem-le-Desert (Herault)
	THE GIFT OF CHARLEMAGNE
Serrabone (Eastern Pyrénées)
	REMEDYING NEGLECT
Villerouge-Termenes (Aude)
	THE SITE OF THE BURNING OF THE LAST GREAT HERETIC

White rocks shining in the sun, lush natural vegetation and animal life, and a sea which before becoming deep blue, merges into every conceivable shade of blue and green: the archipelago of Hyeres on the Côte d'Azur is known as the archipelago of the Golden isles. And what can we say about the Calanques of Cassis, deep furrows caused by water erosion on the clayey slopes with their breathtaking "calette" and rocks which can be reached only by boat or on foot ? Or the extensive Crau plain, which is stoneless, and which has an almost lunar appearance, being one of the last European steppes, delimited according to Giono "by a wall of syrupy air in which the heat pulsates".

The inland area of Provence is a land of natural mysticism and sacredness, and one of the focal points of Medieval monasticism, Bernardo di Chiaravalle alone founding one hundred and seventy abbeys between 1112 and 1153. It is here that we can see the "three sisters", to be visited on a mystical and meditative itinerary: Sénanque, Thoronet and Silvacane, who welcome and restore the spirit with their severe, yet harmonious forms. It still remains a perfect example of the Provençal Romanesque style, that is timeless, and a demonstration that true values are timeless, and expression of the purity of the Cistercian rule.

Many artists have fallen in love with Provence before us, attracted by its bright colours, its rounded forms and its lush, and rather wild nature. In fact the impressionist painters such as Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Manet, Degas and Pissarro do not only limit themselves to portraying Provençal landscapes they choose to live in them: Van Gogh, chose to live in Arles, Toulouse-Lautrec chose Matisse, while Chagall and Pablo Picasso elected to make the Mediterranean coast their home. While Mistral, an authentic provençal native, and Nobel literature prize winner in 1804, also extolled its virtues in his famous poems: Mirèio, Calèndal and Lou pouèmo dòu Rose.