To be honest we expected this to be a horrible place, luckily our friends recommended it to us and so we decided to go there on a rainy day.
The  "Parc Africaine de Siegan" is a huge Zoo located at the border of the etang de bages et siagan.
There are parts where you can drive through with the car. I know this is nothing compared to the real africa but it's quite impressive and much nicer than seeing them behind a fence.
Then there's a big and really nicely made area down at the étang where you can walk through. Here you really don't know anymore which bird belong to the parc and which just happen to spend the summer here. Storks building their nests, pelicans too and plenty of flamingos.

The entrance to the park is quit expensive 26€ per person kids starting from 4 years pay 20€.
But you get a lot your your money. You can easily spend the whole day in this park.

The park opens at 9am and is open till approx. 16.30 pm

www.reserveafricainesigean.fr/

Mas du soleilla

We recommend to stay at the lovely mas du soleilla, not only because they are friends of ours or because the make  outstanding wine but also because it's a really nice place to stay. Located in the middle of the vineyards with a stunning view over the land and the the sea this is a nice place to stay, the rooms are simple and comfortable and the breakfast, which you eat on the terrace by the pool if the weather is good,  is the best we had so far in any b&b or hotel. Fresh grape juice, lovely jams and cheese. Fresh bread and croissants, freshly fruit salad or müsli.

Mas du Soleilla
Christa Derungs & Peter Wildbolz
Route de Narbonne Plage
F-11100 Narbonne
Frankreich
Tel. +33 468 45 24 80?Fax +33 468 45 25 32
info@mas-du-soleilla.com

http://www.mas-du-soleilla.com/

Etang de bages at de siegan

Take your time and discover the area around the salty lake of bages. In spring you can see plenty of flamingos there.

Narbonne

We did not have to much time to explore Narbonne but what I definitely recommend is the " Les Halles de Narbonne" The old Market place a historic building is open every day from early morning to 1pm. It's a very lively palace where you can buy  local specialities, lovely cheese , vegetables, meat ete. The proximity to spain can be felt in one og the little bars inside the market where locals eat a small lunch or drink coffee.
El rincon is one of them, a tapas style place, that has been recommended to us. They serve nice food and stock a huge range of local wines. Every sunday you can taste local wines.

We've just come home from a week in the south of france. If you like good wine, oysters and stunning nature ( who doesn't ? ) this is the place for you. The whole area is beautiful: vines, cypresses and the blue see as far as far as the eye can see. We have a favorite spot though,  Gruissan plage and La Clape.

Gruissan Plage

Behind the wide and kilometers long with beach lies a very spechial Holiday "village" : Les Chalets de Gruissan,  hundreds of small wood houses built on pillars. The chalets were built 1850 in the time when people started to go to the seaside for a holiday. I have never been there in high season but what I like is it's off season charm. When most of the houses are still empty the place has a very special charm. It's a windy place and in the evening you have what people call  "le marin is coming home" which means the recurring evening mist which is coming from the sea. To watch the wafts of mist creep over the white sand is a beautiful look.

Gruissan Plage definitely makes it to my top 3 european beaches.

Les Chalets de Gruisson Plage

If you get hungry theres only one place to go: at the very end of the Chalets area and the beach is

"La Perle Gruissanaise" a oyster and mussel farm with a very nice little "restaurant" more like a oyster eating place. The place has lot's of charm, from a big basin you choose the oysters you like, order a drink and go to sit on one of the little tables next door.

La Perle Gruissanaise
Base Conchylicole, 11430 Gruissan