Out and about
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The market in Olonzac |
The historic walled city of Carcassonne |
The Canal du Midi |
La Livinière is about 30 minutes drive from the beautiful towns of Beziers, Narbonne and Carcassonne. Beziers has quite a Spanish feel to it and has a ‘fiesta’ week each year in August.
Narbonne, right on the Canal du Midi, is a largish town with a weekly market and all the usual shops and amenities as well as a couple of hypermarkets. Carcassonne is the historic walled city of the Cathars. There is no traffic permitted inside the walls and there are winding, cobbled streets with lots of fabulous little shops and restaurants. You must try a ‘cassoulet’ while you are there!
The Canal du Midi is a beautiful and tranquil waterway, connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterannean sea. It is the oldest working canal in the world. You can travel along the 240 km of its length by barge on the canal, or by walking or cycling alongside it (and eating and drinking at various beautiful spots along it). The nearest spot to La Livinière where you can enjoy the Canal is the charming little village of Homps where you can watch the boats pass by while sipping a ‘pastis’ or eating a three course meal at one of the excellent restaurants on the bank of the canal. You can hire boats or jump on a bike and cycle along the tree-lined tow paths.
There is a Tuesday morning market in Olonzac and a Wednesday morning one in Lezignan, selling clothes and fresh foods. Here you will also find a bank, petrol station and larger supermarkets.
The Mediterranean coast is about 45 minutes drive and offers beautiful sandy beaches and warm water. If you prefer lake or river swimming then both are on offer nearby. Lac Jouarres has wind surfing and is about 10 minutes away; Lac Montbel is about an hour away and has a sandy ‘beach’ and pedaloes for hire. The Pyrenees are about 2 hours drive and you can ski for several months of the year, and the Spanish border isn’t far; you can drive to Barcelona in about 3 hours.
The Languedoc boasts 300 days of sunshine per year. The temperatures in the summer months are usually around 30 degrees centigrade (in July and August possibly higher) but there is always a breeze and sometimes a wind!
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skiing in the Pyrenees is about 2 hours away |