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Travelling Around France - Perpignan, Narbonne and Montpelier
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Travelling to and around France -
This week we continue our journey from last week’s edition of the ‘Leader’, which started from the Costa Blanca and concluded at the Spanish Border. The crossing taken at the border on the A7 motorway, just a couple of kilometres from La Jonquera is usually quite a fast transference from Spain into France, although at different times of the year and day this can vary.
I have taken this route about 30 times in the last eight years and have sometimes experienced massive hold ups in July and August, due to volume of traffic, especially on ‘Black Weekend’, which is the change over period for the French and many other European holidays. As most of the European traffic uses the French roads to gain access to Spain the roads in France suffer more fatalities on this weekend than the rest of the year.
The move off the Spanish A7 onto the French A9 is almost impossible to notice, apart from paying tolls just before crossing and collecting a ticket as soon as you arrive in France, as the road just continues.
First name places we pass are Le Boulou, 8 kilometres across the border and Perpignan, where you will find all the well-known French motels that are extremely well priced. If you arrive at this area late into the night and find the reception areas closed, then don’t despair as with a credit card you can book your room and breakfast if required, from a machine outside, receive your pin number for access into the car park and for access into the motel. Pets are allowed in most of the French motels on the motorways, although if travelling with Great Danes or Pyrenean mountain dogs it may be wise to telephone before you depart from home just to check.
Le Boulou and its Catalonian region boast just about everything that you may require, golden sands, skiing, health spa and mountains. Le Boulou is set at the foot of the Pyrenean mountain chain of Albères rich in walks and drives and is just 18 kilometres from the sandy beaches of Argelès and Saint-Cyprien.
Perpignan is a flamboyant and vibrant artistic town, which at one time was the most used airport from the UK taking people to the north of Spain.
Continuing along the A9 it is well worth a few hours to drop off at Narbonne, situated in the Languedoc region of Southern France, which you will notice has carved in stone the words ‘Carrefour de Sud’. Carrefour, spelt the same as the French Hypermarket chain is French for ‘Crossroads’, hence translated to ‘Crossroads to the South’. Languedoc is well known for it’s superb wine and Narbonne itself is a very well maintained historic city. It used to be a thriving Mediterranean port, but due to silting it is now some few kilometres from the sea. The old town houses gushing fountains, pedestrianised streets and a wonderful southern French atmosphere. It is the centre of the local wine trade, serving the wine areas of Corbieres, Minervois, Fitou and many others.
Next we arrive at Béziers, which is perched on a hill at the foot of the river Orb and will possibly be one of the most extraordinary ports-of-call on your trip. It was founded by the Greeks of Marseille, colonized by the Romans, and ransacked by the Saracens in 720. It is the birthplace of the well-known French engineer, Riquet, who constructed the ‘Canal du Midi’ and has a most imposing cathedral, Saint Nazaire. If you enjoy wine tasting then this is the place for you, perhaps followed by an evening dinner on board a boat, drifting smoothly along the Canal du Midi.
Next on our journey, and still in the Languedoc is Sète, which goes back in history deep into the Roman period, but nowadays you will find some of the fastest sail boats in the world as it is here that the French train for the Americas cup. Climbing to the Mont Saint-Clair which is 183 meters high you will have a wonderful view of the village and also the bay know as ‘Bassin de Thau’. Sète is often referred to as the Venice of Languedoc.
Our next stop off is at Montpellier, which is bathed in Roman, Gothic and Medieval history. At one point in the mid 14th century the King of Aragon sold Montpellier to Philippe V1, King of France for 120,000 gold crowns. This marked the decline of the medieval city. For the tourist Montpellier has a host of interesting places which will take far more than a few hours to discover, along with it’s Opera houses and literature centres.
Next is Nimes, which was built around a natural spring and numerous underground canals spread from this spring under the town. It was here in the amphitheatre that Augustus, defeated Cleopatra and Marc-Anthony in 30 BC. Since that time Nimes has been busy in farming and cottage industries, cotton and silk. In the middle of the 19th century the railway came to Nimes and still to this day forms a major part of life. Nimes is today, ideally equipped for the 21st century, but still retains a large part of the old quarter.
From here, we transfer to the A54 and next week will be taking you through the regions of Provence and Vaucluse
Article provided by kind permission of The Leader Newspaper (Written by Jill Attfield)
Boulogne House for Sale - Brittany Home for Sale More articles in this series: 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 20
This week we continue our journey from last week’s edition of the ‘Leader’, which started from the Costa Blanca and concluded at the Spanish Border. The crossing taken at the border on the A7 motorway, just a couple of kilometres from La Jonquera is usually quite a fast transference from Spain into France, although at different times of the year and day this can vary.
I have taken this route about 30 times in the last eight years and have sometimes experienced massive hold ups in July and August, due to volume of traffic, especially on ‘Black Weekend’, which is the change over period for the French and many other European holidays. As most of the European traffic uses the French roads to gain access to Spain the roads in France suffer more fatalities on this weekend than the rest of the year.
The move off the Spanish A7 onto the French A9 is almost impossible to notice, apart from paying tolls just before crossing and collecting a ticket as soon as you arrive in France, as the road just continues.
First name places we pass are Le Boulou, 8 kilometres across the border and Perpignan, where you will find all the well-known French motels that are extremely well priced. If you arrive at this area late into the night and find the reception areas closed, then don’t despair as with a credit card you can book your room and breakfast if required, from a machine outside, receive your pin number for access into the car park and for access into the motel. Pets are allowed in most of the French motels on the motorways, although if travelling with Great Danes or Pyrenean mountain dogs it may be wise to telephone before you depart from home just to check.
Le Boulou and its Catalonian region boast just about everything that you may require, golden sands, skiing, health spa and mountains. Le Boulou is set at the foot of the Pyrenean mountain chain of Albères rich in walks and drives and is just 18 kilometres from the sandy beaches of Argelès and Saint-Cyprien.
Perpignan is a flamboyant and vibrant artistic town, which at one time was the most used airport from the UK taking people to the north of Spain.
Continuing along the A9 it is well worth a few hours to drop off at Narbonne, situated in the Languedoc region of Southern France, which you will notice has carved in stone the words ‘Carrefour de Sud’. Carrefour, spelt the same as the French Hypermarket chain is French for ‘Crossroads’, hence translated to ‘Crossroads to the South’. Languedoc is well known for it’s superb wine and Narbonne itself is a very well maintained historic city. It used to be a thriving Mediterranean port, but due to silting it is now some few kilometres from the sea. The old town houses gushing fountains, pedestrianised streets and a wonderful southern French atmosphere. It is the centre of the local wine trade, serving the wine areas of Corbieres, Minervois, Fitou and many others.
Next we arrive at Béziers, which is perched on a hill at the foot of the river Orb and will possibly be one of the most extraordinary ports-of-call on your trip. It was founded by the Greeks of Marseille, colonized by the Romans, and ransacked by the Saracens in 720. It is the birthplace of the well-known French engineer, Riquet, who constructed the ‘Canal du Midi’ and has a most imposing cathedral, Saint Nazaire. If you enjoy wine tasting then this is the place for you, perhaps followed by an evening dinner on board a boat, drifting smoothly along the Canal du Midi.
Next on our journey, and still in the Languedoc is Sète, which goes back in history deep into the Roman period, but nowadays you will find some of the fastest sail boats in the world as it is here that the French train for the Americas cup. Climbing to the Mont Saint-Clair which is 183 meters high you will have a wonderful view of the village and also the bay know as ‘Bassin de Thau’. Sète is often referred to as the Venice of Languedoc.
Our next stop off is at Montpellier, which is bathed in Roman, Gothic and Medieval history. At one point in the mid 14th century the King of Aragon sold Montpellier to Philippe V1, King of France for 120,000 gold crowns. This marked the decline of the medieval city. For the tourist Montpellier has a host of interesting places which will take far more than a few hours to discover, along with it’s Opera houses and literature centres.
Next is Nimes, which was built around a natural spring and numerous underground canals spread from this spring under the town. It was here in the amphitheatre that Augustus, defeated Cleopatra and Marc-Anthony in 30 BC. Since that time Nimes has been busy in farming and cottage industries, cotton and silk. In the middle of the 19th century the railway came to Nimes and still to this day forms a major part of life. Nimes is today, ideally equipped for the 21st century, but still retains a large part of the old quarter.
From here, we transfer to the A54 and next week will be taking you through the regions of Provence and Vaucluse
Article provided by kind permission of The Leader Newspaper (Written by Jill Attfield)
Boulogne House for Sale - Brittany Home for Sale More articles in this series: 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 20
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