A trip to Languedoc

If you fancy a short break in Languedoc, whether to take photos, paint or just to see the sights I hope the following will be of some help.

Having previously spent time in Languedoc and taken photos there it seemed a no brainer to return, only this time with a better camera and a prior knowledge of the best places to visit. To view some of the photos please go to South of France Gallery One and South of France Gallery Two.

We scoured the Ryanair website for a few weeks until the right offer came through and as soon as it did booked the flight. I know a bargain when I see one and at £4 per person return, even when you add the £10 booking fee, I knew I'd found one.

The flight from Luton to Nimes took about an hour and went without a hitch. We declined to eat, mainly due to the time of day, but were not hassled by the very pleasant cabin crew.

Our first niggle arose at Nimes airport. We’d already booked our car hire with National car hire, believing it to be the sensible thing to do. But an hour later, having queued behind eight people, most of whom hadn’t pre booked, we realised we'd made a bit of a faux-pas.

If we had waited until we arrived, gone straight to the Avis desk, all of twenty paces away and who incidentally have a special facility for those who had pre booked, we'd have been on the road in minutes. Oh well, you live and learn.

Collecting our car from the car park was easy though and very soon we were driving north towards Nimes town centre. Due to a lack of time and having previously arranged to drop off our luggage we carried straight on up to our accommodation for the stay.

The hamlet of Euzet-les-Bains is tucked away at the foot of the Cevennes national park. There’s not really a lot to be said about Euzet-les-Bains – nothing bad anyway. In fact, if you love peace and quiet you’ll love the place. La Bergerie, our bed and breakfast/gite for the duration is found in a very private hilltop setting at the northern tip of Euzet-les-Bains, nicely decorated and comfortable, with a decent sized swimming pool.

The owners, Wayne (a Yorkshireman with passable English) and Francoise (French with fluent English) are very welcoming and didn’t seem to find providing us with knives, forks, plates, glasses and cups to eat and drink our supermarket bought evening meal to be at all frustrating.

Picturesque villages, quaint bridges, quiet roads and all manner of photo and painting opportunities surround Euzet. Too many to describe in detail, so I will mention some of the places I have visited.

The riverside village of Sauve  is a twenty minute drive along empty roads and is well and truly worth a visit. Go there during the siesta and you will find yourself alone in what appears to be a wilderness. It took two trips to realise the village was actually inhabited. The shops are hidden behind shuttered windows and the schools and other public buildings close. No doubt a multitude of snoring French folk in full on siesta mode spend the afternoon behind the thick stone walls of the centuries old houses completely oblivious to the admiring tourists outside. There are photo opportunities, quite literally around every corner.

The neighbouring village of Quissac, though not as appealing as Sauve, is still worth a visit. The riverside walk is heaven and all those who like to paint bridges will adore the bridge across the river.

Moving north slightly, heading back towards Euzet is the mediaeval village of Vezenobres. In a way, Vezenobres seems too clean to be real, but it is and again photo and painting opportunties abound. Be warned, the roads are narrow and steep and best traversed on foot.

The main town in the area known as l'Uzège is Uzès, a Roman town that has withstood the sands of time very well. The central 'Place aux Herbes' is a fascinating and vibrant square lined with restaurants and numerous vaulted archways that give home to shops and yet more restaurants. Small streets radiate from the square with all manner of gift and craft shops to cater for the curious.

Be prepared to spend the day in Uzès snapping away or using up tube after tube of paint. We have been three times now and still haven't seen half that Uzès has to offer. It might be worth mentioning here that four of us ate outside one evening at a pavement restaurant and consumed four very nice pizzas, a glass of white wine each for the ladies and a fizzy drink each for the men (yep, alcoholics we're not) for about a tenner a head. Very nice and excellent value.

Away from Uzès to the north is the village of Goudargues, known locally as the Venice of the Gard. The 'canal' that runs through the centre is also lined with restaurants and affords good photo opportunities. Why not sit in the shade of the plane trees, with a drink at your side and sketch or paint to your heart's content. We sank a mid morning coffee at one of the canalside 'cafes' for about £2.50 each. Starbucks it wasn't, but it was worth it just for the setting.

Uzès is Roman and lies at the source of the Eure from which the inhabitants of Nimes, another Roman town drew their water. To move this finest of mineral water from Uzès to Nimes the Romans built the world famous Pont du Gard. This is a fabulous work of architecture at which one can only stand and gaze in awe. Especially when you consider that unless the historians have got it all wrong the stones were moved and lifted into place by hand or at the very least by using a bit of wood for leverage! I wonder if those who built it cared whether or not it would still be standing over two thousand years later.

Go to the Pont du Gard, pay the five euro fee and leave your car in the car park for the day. Don't complain about the cost too much though. We have consistently found the cost of car parking in France to be a fraction of the cost in the UK. In fact, most places are free.

It should also be noted that the Pont du Gard site isn't just about the aquaduct. There are shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and much more to keep you entertained. When you finally return to your car, fed, watered, shopped out and with plenty of photos on your memory card that five euro car park fee will seem excellent value for money. An additional bonus is the weather. We went at the start of October and could easily have spent the day on the sandy beach of the Gardon river getting sunburnt.

Travelling further south again we find the riverside town of Sommieres. Shop, paint, snap away, eat by the river, stroll along the stony riverbank or just soak up the atmosphere. Whatever you do, pay Sommieres a visit. It'll be worth it.

That was the extent of our latest trip to Languedoc. All in all about two hundred miles over two and a half days on mostly empty, usually excellently surfaced roads. For a taste of the Mediterranean without the oppressive heat and the obvious tourist trappings Languedoc has to be worth a trip. Ryanair also fly to Beziers, which is an excellent start to a short trip to the south coast resorts of Narbonne, Cap d'Agde and Marseillan. But that's another story.