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The
surrounding region of the Mediterranean backcountry is extremely
rich in cultural, historical, and architectural wonders. The
natural beauty of the area is breathtaking. While traveling the
roads and highways of the region, you will see why this area is
renowned worldwide for its vineyards. Vines blanket the terrain as
far as the eye can see.
Wine is part of the culture, the past,
and the present.
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L’Etang de Montady
is formed by the fields and vines, which grow into the shape of
a wheel, with a radius of over a kilometer. Previously a swamp,
the area was drained of its stagnant waters in the 13th |
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century
and the well engineered design that was implemented still exists
today. The water is collected in a network of channels that run
towards the center of the wheel, where they drain into a ditch
and empty under the mountain of Ensérune.
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The
Oppidum of Ensérune,
which overhangs this fantastic landscape, features the runes of
a former roman villa, as well as a museum. |
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Le
Canal du Midi
is a man made waterway that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to
the Atlantic Ocean. It was engineered and constructed in the 17th
century by Pierre Paul Riquet, under the authority of Louis XIV.
Throughout its 300
years, the canal has been invaluable to communications and the
movement of goods. It is flanked by two trails that run along the
shore; these trails were for the oxen that towed the floating barges
that carried food and supplies along the waterway. Old growth trees
still line the waterway on either side, shading the trails from the
elements.
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Wine
barrels barge crossing a lock
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Listed in the UNESCO’s
World Heritage, the canal is a fascinating place for visitors to
view its many bridges, dams, and other constructions. It can be
enjoyed on foot, bicycle, or horseback, and remains a popular site
for boating. Just over Ensérune’s hill, the Canal is only a few
hundred meters from Domaine du Bosc.
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The 9
locks of Fonsérannes,
one of the masterpieces of the canal, are located a few kilometers
away, at the entrance to Béziers. The successive locks carry boats
along a difference in ground level of 21.5 meters. They offer a
spectacular view of a 304 meter long water staircase.
Many other beautiful
components of the Canal’s infrastructure are located in the
neighborhoods nearby. The Canal crosses Ensérune’s hill by way of a
tunnel called the
Tunnel du Malpas, and
Le Pont Canal
enables the Canal to run along a bridge to cross over an
intersecting river. |
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Sixty kilometers from Domaine du Bosc
lies the only European fortified town still inhabited:
La Cité de Carcassonne.
In excellent condition, this magnificent fortress was erected in the
Middle Age and remains a part of the UNESCO World Heritage. |
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The region offers many other interesting sites to
visit. Among them are
La Cité
de Minerve, Sète,
Collioure, La Camargue, Les Châteaux
Cathares, and many Mediterranean beaches. |
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Copyright
Côteaux du Bosc
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