Don't just think of France, think of the warm & friendly South !

Pouzols-Minervois in the Aude region is a friendly & pretty village, accessible to the Mediterranean but not so close as to suffer excessive summer tourism. This is a working village, famous for its wonderful wines (the various Domaines and the Cave Cooperative), its fine olives, and rural honey. Real France.

With so much unfenced agriculture, the countryside is extensively available to pedestrians and bikers, on all sides of the village one walks immediately into the rural scenery. Close by is the long distance pathway the Grand Randonnée 77 which links into the vast labyrinth of major paths which criss-cross France, and even head into Santiago de Compostela.

This village and its castle was destroyed in the Cathar conflict of 1210 (apart from the ancient church) and then rebuilt on an adjacent & protective hilltop, incorporating old stone from the original village. It is in the circulade style so much used in the 100 Years War, narrow winding streets, and the D-grade road linking Béziers to Carcassonne passes nearby but not through the village.

Ryanair offer flights into Carcassonne, Béziers, Perpignan, Montpellier and Gerona (the Spanish border is 90 minutes away) and Flybe provide services too, as do Easy Jet (including Gatwick). This gives scope for incoming flights from a whole multitude of UK well as TGV to narbonne

Narbonne is the nearest major town, and is interesting. It was the capital of Roman Gaul, and also the first place outside Italy where the Romans grew grapes. Through its very centre runs the old Via Domitia, linking Rome to this region
Maison de Grandmere is a delightfully converted village house in Pouzols,village where the clock chimes are all that disturb the peace. It is surrounded by vineyards and some lovely walks and yet the Med and other attractions are not too far away. The house will sleep 6: 1 double bedroom (that also has a small child's bed) and a double mezzanine bedroom .The living room also has a day bed that converts into a double bed.
You enter the house from the narrow village street into the living dining room with the kitchen at the end. There is an open working fireplace, with logs provided in the winter. There is a large sofa, dining table, and chairs. The kitchen is well equipped witha 4 ring stove , dishwasher fridge, and microwave with convection oven
The village is close to Lac Joaures at Homps where all watersports and swimming and restaurants can be found


Ryanair route Bristol -Beziers: Maison de Grandmere is about 30 minutes from Beziers -Vias airport making it a convenient place to stay at any time of the year but is very good value for a short break.

This is the land of the Cathars and ancient castles, the region is steeped in history. The area is covered in vineyards and is a beautiful area for walking and sightseeing.The Canal du Midi is only 5 mins away. The small roads are excellent with remarkably little traffic. There is also good fishing in the rivers nearby especially at Bize. The lake at Homps [10 mins away] has sailing and swimming very good Cave selling excellent local wine .The area has numerous canal side Bistros and restaurants .There is an excellent bar / shop around the corner from the house which also has tables and chairs in the local square .Numerous vans call to sell fruit vegetables and meat and the supermarket is10 minutes away. The whole area has markets every day of the week selling fresh local produce.