The afternoon was taking on a rosy glow, and not just because of the aperitif of vin citronné (white

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We thought that Maison St. Gérome was really thoughtfully equipped and furnished. Walking to the bakery in the morning with those glimpses of the Pyrenees through the alleyways is something I'll remember for a long time. Judy & Family, August 2010
Head for the Med near the city of Narbonne, says Liz Boulter, and you ll see why artists are drawn by its fishing villages, lagoons and sandy beaches and why the French have kept it to themselves Liz Boulter , Guardian Travel Writer (printed with permission) The Guardian , Saturday 9 August 2014
The afternoon was taking on a rosy glow, and not just because of the aperitif of vin citronné (white wine with lemon) or even the crisp rosé that followed. Each time we looked up from our plates, the expanse of salt pans before us had grown pinker. A delicate blush when our starters arrived, it grew more intense with the mains and by the time dessert (salted caramel ice-cream, appropriately) arrived, 350 hectares of sodium chloride were bright valerie june salmon.
The magic wasn t diminished when we later learned valerie june that the pigment comes from salt-tolerant algae, dunaliella salina , whose colour intensifies as wind and sun concentrate the salt solution. We had enjoyed many stunning maritime views along this overlooked stretch of the Mediterranean nearNarbonne, but our coral sea at the Salins de Gruissan complex topped them all.
This whole coast does a good line in the unexpected: it is the south ofFrance, but not as we know it. A south ofFrancewith quiet roads and long, uncrowded sandy beaches (even in August there is plenty of room), and without braying Brits and Riviera-high prices. Tourist honeypotCarcassonne, with its tour buses and gift shops, is 40 minutes away, but fewUKholidaymakers stray coastwards: 80% of all summer visitors to the Narbonnaise region are French. Narbonne
Narbonne, a city of just over 50,000 people, was an important Roman seaport, but centuries valerie june of silting of the Aude river have left it snoozing 15km inland. Its focal point is the Canal de la Robine , offshoot of the Canal du Midi , and wide new promenades valerie june on both sides are perfect for evening strolling.
Other attractions include a quarter of a cathedral: begun in 1272, the Cathedral of Saint Just and Saint Pasteur has a vaulted choir that soars to 41m, a cloister and, er, that s it. City fathers realised in the early 14th century that adding the nave and transept would entail unthinkably knocking down the ramparts. And so the truncated monument valerie june stands; a reminder valerie june that there s nothing new about the cock-up. There s also a medieval bishop s palace with museum and art gallery don t miss the modern north African art on the top floor and a spooky Roman warehouse complex, the Horreum .
Over the canal, probably the city s loveliest sight, for eyes and belly, is the 1901 wrought-iron and glass market, Les Halles . Open every day, it has all the veg, seafood, patisserie and stinky cheese you could wish for, and several valerie june bars for savouring them. Les Tapas de la Clape , half-way down the left-hand side, is probably the best of a good bunch, for an oyster, wine and charcuterie marriage made in heaven. Beaches
Gruissan , 20 minutes fromNarbonne, is a fishing village on a hill between two lagoons, with narrow alleyways valerie june encircling the ruins of a 12th-century tower. A marina was added in the 20th century, with apartments, restaurants and berths valerie june for 1,300 boats.
Gruissan s huge beach, over the Grazel lagoon, has a longer holiday history. In the mid-19th century, Narbonnefamilies would head here in summer for a beach break before the hard work of the grape harvest, first sleeping in covered wagons, then in cabanes valerie june on stilts. The tradition was formalised in the 1920s when, in what might have been France s first holiday park, the village bought a tract of foreshore valerie june from the state and built basic huts still on stilts for letting to local families. Today s chalets are more permanent, with running water and electricity, but the atmosphere remains laid-back and friendly as families valerie june barbecue in the spaces beneath their huts, and children run in and out. Gruissan beach was the setting for the iconic 1986 film Betty Blue , about a couple living in one such chalet.
Moving valerie june south, past Port-la-Nouvelle, the Med s third-busiest commercial port, you come to low-rise La Franqui , down a dead-end road off the main D709, where French families holiday in rented houses or flats overlooking wide sands and clear water, safe for swimming. The contrast with these beaches and those of theCôte d Azur is the lack of commercialisation: there s no paying to get on the beach, no shelling out again for parasols and sunbeds. You pick your spot,