LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
I had driven through this province in March 2018 on my way to the UK and saw Nimes, Montpellier and Carccassone. This time I drove north from Barcelona and saw the following in order.
LE PERTHUS. In the NM XL series, this town and region at the eastern end of the Pyrenees borders France. It was packed with French buying cheap Spanish goods, cigarettes and getting gas. The price of gas went up from €1.13 (very cheap, usually in the €1.22 range) to €1.40.
Fort de Bellegarde, On the top of the mountain to the west of Le Perthus, this Vauban fort is monstrous and well fortified. I walked the perimeter on the small exterior wall. A partial moat and double walls enclose a huge rectangular stone building. The views in all directions were stupendous, especially west to the Pyrenees and down to the town. It doesn’t look like it gets much business. €4
When entering France, every road entrance has a cadre of police who profile the vehicles, I assume looking for illegal immigrants – most not Caucasian. In my confusion I passed the same guys three times!
On the way to Perpignan, a tollbooth had two exits, I didn’t notice and drove back towards Barcelona. Once on an expressway, it takes a long time to get off and I got to be stuck in the same traffic jam in Le Perthus twice.
PERPIGNAN (pop
Joseph Puig Museum of Coins and Medals. I couldn’t bring myself to see this museum. There is nothing worse than looking at old coins.
Hyacinthe-Rigaud Museum was founded in Perpignan in 1820 thanks to the political will of the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales . It opened its doors to the public in 1833 in the Old University of Perpignan and in 1959, for the tercentenary of the birth of the portraitist born in Perpignan, it was given the name of Hyacinthe Rigaud. In 1979 it moved to the hotel de Lazerme and after three years of renovations and expansions for a total cost of 9 million euros, the museum reopens in
The museum brings together a collection of paintings and decorative arts , including a collection of Catalan Gothic art and modern paintings. €6, €4 reduced
Palace of the Kings of Majorca. In 1276, King James II of Majorca made Perpignan the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca. He started to build a palace with gardens on the hill of Puig del rey on the south of the town and completed it in 1309. Part of the northern wing of the palace was destroyed in a siege in 1502. Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, France gained Roussillon, and proceed to develop the defensive features of the palace.
The province bought the Palace and the gardens in 1958 and the Ministry of Defence keeps the Vauban bastions and 19th century buildings and courts as a garrison. It is a fortified Palace in the Gothic style organized around three courtyards 60 m square with the “Great Hall“, the seat of political power, the chapel and the royal residence. Doors, corridors, stairs, armatures and the main towers are all made of cut stone: ochre stone from Les Fonts, Baixas Blue, Sandstone, Red Marble from Villefranche-de-Conflent, White and Blue Marble from Ceret.
The Guitares au Palais, a free three-day guitar music festival, is held in the last weekend of August in the Palace and the gardens. €4, €3 reduced
I slept in Perpignan at my usual spot mooching wifi until midnight. Even though the restaurant was closed, the party on the outside tables didn’t end until 05:30! One girl had such a loud laugh she managed to keep me awake most of the night.
I thought I would take a detour to drive beside the Mediterranean rather than the huge toll road. This is usually a mistake – the money saved is not worth the grief encountered.
AGDE. This cute town on a river looks economically downtrodden. I began to dislike it too. Founded by the Phoenicians, the Greeks built walls and the present ramparts were built in 850. In 1560, the town was taken by the Protestants.
Espace Moliere. This small museum near the water has a temporary exhibit by Marie Helène Roger, a painter and sculptor. €4
In Agde, I had no mobile data (Vodafone doesn’t serve this area) and Google Maps stopped functioning as I had gone past the edge of the downloaded maps, so I was lost. McDonald’s wifi didn’t work, there was no other to be found (France!), I joined another network and using a lot of mobile data downloaded one map. I then had a huge fight with the “bitch” on Google Maps who insisted on a route and continued to reroute me endlessly until she said I was twice the distance away from when I started despite driving for a hour. I followed the signs to Papillon instead.
A road and train line cross the Basin de Thau (a large inland bay) on a narrow causeway. I drove this way hoping to get nice sea views, but instead only saw trains and marsh grass. Besides the 70km/hour speed limit and tons of roundabouts, there were a few large parking sites to walk the beach.
Abbataile, St Gilles. A monastery founded by Saint Giles, it is included in the UNESCO Heritage List, as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
According to the legend, it was founded in the 7th century by Saint Gilles, over lands which had been given him by the Visigoth King. St Giles’ relics were housed in the abbey church and attracted numerous pilgrims. In the 16th century the church was devastated when the Huguenots took shelter in it.
The abbey church is in typical southern French Romanesque style. The façade, built from 1120 to 1160, has a decorated entrance portico with three portals (the central one larger) with Corinthian columns and medieval sculpture decorations. The crypt dates to the early 11th century. It measures 50 by 25 meters, and occupies the whole subterranean section of the nave. In its center is the tomb of St. Giles, a medieval place of veneration until in the 16th century, his relics were moved to the Basilica of Saint Sernin at Toulouse.
Right on the border of Languedoc-Roussillon and Province, this town was in the midst of rebuilding the access roads into the center where the abbey is – it was almost camper death.
On to Province – Arles is only 16kms from St Gilles.
NOMAD MANIA France – Languedoc-Roussillon (Montpellier, Perpignan, Nîmes, Béziers)
World Heritage Sites:
Canal du Midi
Fortifications of Vauban
Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape
Tentative WHS:
Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne
Ensemble de grottes à concrétions du Sud de la France (08/06/2000)
Le chemin de fer de Cerdagne (01/02/2002)
Le rivage méditerranéen des Pyrénées (01/02/2002)
Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise et leur territoire : Nîmes, Arles, Glanum, aqueducs, via Domitia (01/02/2002)
Nîmes, l’Antiquité au Présent (04/04/2012)
Borders:
Andorra-France
France mainland (sea border/port)
France-Spain
XL:
Bassin de Thau (Languedoc Roussillon)
Catalan Pyrenees
Le Perthus/Els Limits
Villages and Small Towns: St-Guilhem-le-Désert
European Cities:
PERPIGNAN
Museums:
Joseph Puig Museum of Coins and Medals
Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Palace of the Kings of Mallorca
BEZIERS
CARCASSONNE
World Heritage Sites: Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
Tentative WHS: Cité de Carcassonne et ses châteaux sentinelles de montagne
Museums: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Cite de Carcassonne
MONTPELLIER
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Montpellier tramway
Museums: Musée Atger, Musée Fabre
Aquariums: Planet Ocean World
Planetariums: Planétarium Galilée
NIMES
WHS Attempt: The ancient cities of Narbonnaise and their territory: Nîmes, Arles, Glanum, aqueducts, via Domitia (01/02/2002)
Nîmes, Antiquity to the present (04/04/2012)
Museums:
Carré d’art (Square of art)
Musée des Cultures Taurines
Musée du Vieux Nîmes
Airports:
Béziers (BZR)
Carcassone (CCF)
Montpellier (MPL)
Nîmes (FNI)
Perpignan (PGF)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars
La Ligne de l’Aubrac (Arvant-Beziers)
TGV Routes
The Yellow Train of the Pyrenees (Languedoc)
Museums:
Agde: Espace Moliere
Cabestany: Centre de Sculpture Romane
Céret: Musée d’Art moderne de Céret
Le Crès: Musée Saharien
Castles, Palaces, Forts:
Le Perthus: Fort de Bellegarde
Salses-le-Château: Fortress of Salses
Villefranche-de-Conflent: Remparts de Villefranche de Conflent
Religious Temples:
Saint-Gilles Abbey
Villeveyrac: Valmagne Abbey
National Parks: Cévennes
Festivals:
Electrobeach Music Festival, Le Barcarès
Feria de Pentecôte, Nimes
La Fête du Baiser, Roquemaure
Caves:
Grotte Dargilan
Grotte de Clamouse
Grotte de la Cocalière
Pedestrian Bridges: Vers-Pont-du-Gard: Pont du Gard
Bizzarium: Lauriole: Curiosité de Lauriole