Regions of France

he Languedoc like neighbouring Provence /Côte d’Azur are the only two regions of France that can be described as Mediterranean. And like its more glitzy partner its coast delivers a spectacular procession of inviting beaches, whilst the hills and mountains that spring up sometimes within mere miles of the shoreline are home to a multitude of fortified villages, which once offered safety from marauding bandits Franks and Saracens during the dark ages. The land of the ‘Midi’ tells a woeful tale of bitter struggles that culminated firstly in the papal crusade against the ‘heretic’ Cathars (see below) and then with the systematic persecution of the ‘heretic’ protestant Huguenots. Resistance has therefore always been a byword to the spirit of the Languedoc, which resurfaced in WWII with the most organised opposition to German occupation. In quieter times the region has developed a massive table wine growing industry. Today, the region of Languedoc-Roussillon offers an impressive diversity that both reflects its historical roots and its ambitions for the future. This can be best identified through the region’s key cities of Nimes (the gateway to the Camargue) with its beautifully preserved Roman monuments in the far east, the thriving modern metropolis of Montpelier and the magnificent fortified medieval city of Carcassonne. The Languedoc T Now regarded as genocide, the elimination of the Cathars in Medieval Languedoc lay the foundations for the creation of the Catholic Church’s infamous anti-heresy police, the dreaded ‘Inquisition’. An anti Catholic movement, which originated in the Balkans, and which advocated a return to the Christian message of perfection, poverty and preaching, combined with a rejection of the physical to the point of starvation thrived in the Languedoc, especially around the town of Albi. Essentially these believers were objecting to the corruption of the Church of Rome, and it was their dissention that bought on the ire of the papacy and the resulting Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century to rid the land of these foul heretics. Those of a more political bearing will also view this eradication as a clever game play by the Kingdom of France to absorb the Languedoc (county of Toulouse) into its territories. The Cathars 34