The_Area

Les Amandiers is located along the Chemin de la Faïence, a country lane that has been in continuous use since 600 B.C., even before the Gauls arrived.

Clermont l'Hérault is a regional market town of some 6,000 people, and its Wednesday street market draws people from surrounding villages looking for the fresh produce--especially the local sausages, cheeses, and olives--that it's well known for. The town has banks, restaurants, pharmacies, a hospital, several supermarkets, a hypermarché, a theater for plays and concerts, a movie theater, and all the shops and services you would expect from a regional hub . For more information about the town, see www.clermontais.tourisme.fr/English.

Ten minutes to the north is Lac du Salagou, a large recreational lake surrounded by striking wine-purple rock formations. Popular with fishermen, swimmers, and especially windsurfers, Lac du Salagou is a surprising oasis in a rugged patch of wild, natural space.

The sandy beaches of the Mediterranean are only 40 minutes away, and they're so large that they can absorb all the tourists that Europe throws at them and still have plenty of room for you and your family. And while you're at the beach, try the world-famous mussels and oysters grown at nearby Bouzigues and Mèze.

Visible just across the valley from Les Amandiers is the historical hamlet of Villeneuvette, chartered by Louis XIV as a royal manufacture of fine woolen fabrics. The well-preserved hamlet is a time capsule of life in 17th-century rural France and is a listed historical site.

The area is famous for its wines, and the dominant feature of the local landscape is its vineyards. To the south the land flattens toward the Mediterranean and white wine grapes prosper, yielding the famous Picpoul de Pinet and the sweet grapes made into the excellent local muscats. To the north and west, red grapes dominate and the wines from Montpeyroux, Faugères, and Saint Chinian are internationally renowned.

Twenty minutes to the south is Pézenas, home to Molière and the Counts of Montmorency, who turned it in the 17th century into the playground for the rich of Paris. Its architectural heritage is still intact, and many of its famous buildings are open for visit.

The regional center and seat of the départment, Montpellier, is 45 minutes to the east. Here you find a more cosmopolitan air, with its opera house, major concert venues, large department stores, luxury shops, and wide pedestrian avenues through its large and lovely historical quarter. The Montpellier train station is served by the high-speed TGV (the "train grande vitesse," only three and a half hours to Paris), and its international airport has daily flights from London (for full airport information, see www.montpellier.aeroport.fr). Most international flight connections are made through Paris.

With a car, you can range far and wide on day trips alone: Spain is only 1:45 away. Nîmes and Carcassonne are 90 minutes distant, and Toulouse and Avignon only 2 hours. Nice is about four hours away, and the Italian border only a half hour farther than that.

To learn more about Les Amandiers, just click on the topics below:

Introduction <> The House <> The Views <> The Interior <> The Garden
Floor Plans <> Rates & Conditions <> Back to the Home Page
About the Painting Holidays

For more information:

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