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One day around and in Pézenas
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After a visit of the little villages around Pézenas, like Caux, Tourbes, Castelnau de Guers, Saint Pons-de-Mauchien etc., we will dicover the "City of Molière" in a very original way.
If you want it, we will also take a visit at the some wine producer and taste their wines.
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Pézenas
PéZENAS lies 18km east of Béziers on the old N9. Market centre of the coastal plain, it looks across to rice fields and shallow lagoons, hazy with heat and dotted with pink flamingos. The town was catapulted to glory when it became the seat of the parliament of Languedoc and the residence of its governors in 1465, and it reached its zenith in the late seventeenth century when the prince Armand de Bourbon made it a "second Versailles". The legacy of this illustrious past can be seen in the town's exquisite array of fourteenth- to seventeenth-century mansions.
The town also plays up its association with Molière, who visited several times with his troupe in the mid-seventeenth century, when he enjoyed the patronage of Prince Armand. He put on his own plays at the Hôtel d'Alfonce on rue Conti, including the first performance of Le Médecin Volant, according to local tradition. The building is now privately owned, but in summer you can visit the courtyard which served as Molière's theatre. When in town, he lodged at the Maison du Barbier-Gély, in the unspoiled place Gambetta, today occupied by the tourist office. Although Molière features in the eclectic Musée Vulliod St-Germain, housed in a sixteenth-century palace just off the square, it's the grand salon, with its Aubusson tapestries and collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture, that steals the show.
Between the Bas-Languedoc coast and the Hérault hinterland, Pézenas has a great heritage. Fairs were held and Estates convened here, and it was adopted by Molière and his "Illustre Théâtre" troupe of actors. 17th and 18th c. town mansions, paved streets and 16th century bourgeois dwellings form the setting for the house of the Consuls, once the seat of local power, where the Estates of the Languedoc were convened until the mid-17th c.Visit its religious heritage : old chapel of the Pénitents Noirs, a theatre since the 19th c., old chapel of the Ursulines and Collégiale St Jean with a "treasure trove" of artefacts from churches of the town. A trip into the surrounding countryside will reveal charming wine estates and wines of great quality. Cultural events are held from June to October. 30 artisans ply their trade all year round. Apart from Molière, other personalities have left their mark on local history, including Paul Vidal de la Blache, inventor of human geography, the singer Boby Lapointe and the chemist Venel who invented… Seltzer water.
Sights : ■ The old town labelled protected zone and town mansions of the 16th, 17th and 18th c.
■ Saturday market.
■ Collégiale Saint-Jean and its treasure.
Activities :■ Guided tour of the town by day or night.
■ Craft evenings (Wednesday and Friday evenings in summer).
■ Les nocturnes des artisans (en été les mercredis et vendredis soirs).
■ Itinerary of the town marked by arrows.
■ Sampling of Berlingots; tel: 04 67 98 16 32, and Petits Pâtés (sort of mince pie).
■ Exhibitions, art galleries and antique dealers.
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