About the Area

The Languedoc is the heart of the world's largest wine-growing region, an area of rolling hills between the beaches of the Mediterranean to the south and the mountainous Massif Central to the north. You'll be staying in Clermont l'Hérault or the neighboring Villeneuvette, 25 miles west of Montpellier--the region's capital--and 20 miles north of Béziers.

Clermont l'Hérault is famous for its lovely open-air market, held every Wednesday, and for the ruined hilltop castle that overlooks the town. In Pézenas, a few miles to the south, the Counts of Languedoc held court in the 17th century, when the town was second only to Versailles in its splendor. In the nearby woods, Louis XIV and the Counts of Montmorency hunted wild boar, which is still a local speciality. A large number of noblemen's houses, with their striking inner courtyards, are still inhabited. The winding cobblestone streets and beautiful mansions preserve the signs of their former opulence.

A little further south, on the Mediterranean, is the fishing port of Agde, founded by the ancient Greeks. A few miles north of Clermont is Lake Salagou, a lovely spot for walking and swimming. As part of your vacation, you may also want to visit the fascinating towns of Nîmes, Narbonne, or Carcassonne, which are a bit farther away. Along the coast to the southwest, toward Spain, is Collioure, the small fishing village that attracted Matisse and the colorist painters known as the Fauves in the early 1900s.

Getting to the area is easy, and I'll pick you up once you arrive at the Montpellier or Béziers train station or airport. Montpellier's airport has daily service from Paris, London, Rome, and Brussels among others (for a complete list, see www.montpellier.aeroport.fr). Béziers has service from Paris Beauvais, London (Luton), Stockholm, Oslo, and Düsseldorf (for a complete list, see www.beziers.aeroport.fr). Both Montpellier and Béziers are served by express train service from Barcelona and Marseille, as well as by France's famous high speed TGV train originating in Paris. If you're travelling by car, we're only three hours from Marseille or Barcelona and two hours from Toulouse. Car rentals can be arranged in Montpellier.

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Introduction <> About the Painting Program <> About Jennifer Griffith
About Your Accommodations <>Booking & Reservation Information <> Scenes from Previous Years' Visits
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For more information:

Jennifer Griffith
Chemin de la Faïence
34800 Clermont l'Hérault, France
telephone: (33) 4 67 96 97 13
e-mail: jennifer.griffith@free.fr