France – Béziers (En)
Béziers is a city near Narbonne, and we liked it much more than Narbonne itself. It’s one of the oldest cities in France, very lively, with a beautiful park surrounded by statues of poets and sculptors, as well as a 13th-century cathedral with incredible views and nine locks on the Canal du Midi. We loved it!
Where to stay
We stayed at Aire de Sauclières (43.331034, 3.227408 latitude, longitude), 2 kilometres from the town centre and a 10-minute walk from the locks. The area is large, and the pitches are also quite spacious. I recommend walking to the roundabout and back to enter the area. You pay at the machine at the entrance. The area costs €12.36 per day. Electricity costs €4 per day, and you can turn it on whenever you want. There are facilities for filling up with drinking water and for emptying grey and black water tanks. The facilities are very easy to access. The trash cans are located at the entrance to the area. There is a gate at the end of the area that provides access to the locks and the town centre. I highly recommend it for visiting this amazing town.
What to see
We walked towards the nine locks of Fonseranes, a 17th-century engineering marvel. The locks are on the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which you can explore on foot, by bicycle, or by boat.
From there we went up to Poets’ Park. It’s a 19th-century English-style park surrounded by busts of poets. At the entrance, there’s a monument to those who died in the war, and to one side, you’ll find the impressive Titan Fountain. There’s a beautiful lake where we took several photos. For us, it was one of the most beautiful places in the city.
Leaving the park and walking along a main avenue, you’ll reach Jean Jaurès Square, surrounded by bars and shops, with a fountain and a statue in the centre. The beautiful City Hall stands opposite the square.
We wandered through the medieval streets until we reached the 13th-century Saint-Nazaire Cathedral. While trying to take a picture of the cathedral, some girls started waving at me. In the cathedral square, there’s a monument from 1884, a symbol of the republic, and a statue in which Ben posed. But the best part is the panoramic view of the locks and the city.
To get down from the cathedral, you can take an elevator and follow a walkway. At the bottom, you’ll find a church and the Canal du Midi, which we walked along to get back to the area. I recommend walking along the canal from the area and taking the elevator up to the cathedral, then exploring the rest of the city from there, as it’s all downhill.
Our next stop will be in Gémenos, at the foot of the Sainte Baume mountain and surrounded by wonderful natural landscapes, which you can see in the next blog post.
