Nice, Antibes, Cannes and, yes, along to St Tropez - all glitz and glamour, luxury hotels, huge yachts of millionaires off the coast; well, that's what you read in the Sunday supplements and such places. On the other hand, at the western end of the French Mediterranean coast, the sun is not less, the sea is just as blue, the beaches probably longer and cleaner - and that's where you should go, said a friend, if you also value interesting local food, roads that are less crowded, beaches likewise, and with an interior that absolutely demands exploring. For here, remember, you are at the foot of the Pyrenees. The area may be called Roussillon-Languedoc - the Oc coming from the third language recognised around here: French, obviously; Catalan, for the borders of France and Spain have moved back and forward over the centuries; then Occitan, which is still written anyway, if not spoken. A relic, it seems of the Roman occupation mixed with - what? Anyway, to the mountains and the beaches. For mountains, you can't miss the castles that perch on some of them or their lower outcrops. Montsegur, the last bastion of a sect known as the Cathars or "pure ones" which ended with 200 of the defenders being burned on one huge pyre. Castles galore, on impossible peaks.
But any French guide is to a great extent a guide to good food. And one, locally produced, not only tells you where places are and gives you a bit of history, but all through informs you on the best produce in the area and best places to eat same. Did you know, for example, that the cherry capital of the world, no less, is just up the mountains, not far from the sea, at a small town called Ceret? Then you have a little seaside place which might well be considered the European, anyway, capital of a small fish which we know in tins, as brown, tasty, salty anchovies, but which bear little resemblance to the lightly salted anchovies, fresh from the sea, which are usually served up alternating with grilled red pepper slices, covering your plate like spokes of a wheel.
You've heard about, and probably don't want any more of, the cargolade or dish of snails roasted over an open fire. Wine, of course, and probably already you are drinking the red stuff from Laguedoc: Minervois or the vins doux of Banyuls which runs from an aperitif through to a port wine type, not unlike Madeira. So there you are, before you are into the guide book at all, you have to stop. But do remember, Roussilion-Languedoc is as much a surprise and delight to the northern French as to us.