www.montpellier-france.com A flourishing trading post and centre of learning since the 10thC, Montpellier was temporarily flattened for its Protestant sympathies during the Wars of Religion, then rose again in a welter of imposingly severe 17th-18thC hôtels particuliers. Around 100 of these survive in the Old Town, also known as Lou Clapas (the rubble), though somewhat inaccurately after a recent rash of gentrification. Several now house public offices, such as the Hôtel de Saint-Côme (Chamber of Commerce), on Grand Rue Jean-Moulin (close to the home of the Second World War Resistance hero), and the Hôtel de Ganges (prefecture), off rue Foch.

Place de la Comédie is the bustling marble-flagged heart of things. Nicknamed ‘L’Oeuf (the egg), it is topped by the Opéra, a decorative flourish of l9thC exuberance, and tails off into broad tree-lined Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, off which the Musée Fabre is top attraction (www.museefabre-en.montpellier3m.fr). Francois Xavier Fabre (1766-1837) was an enthusiastic if only moderately talented pupil of David. However, he and his amoureuse the Countess of Albany (widow of the Young Pretender) amassed an extensive collection of 17th-l9thC paintings including three Rubens, some attractive Vernet sea-scapes, Houdon marbles and a fine selection of Dutch and Flemish works.

Rue Foch carves a triumphal path through the Old Town to the Promenade du Peyrou, a pleasant place to take the air, admire a very distant view of the Cévennes and an 18thC aqueduct modelled on the Pont du Gard which once provided water for the fountains. To the north lies the Faculté de Médécine, where Rabelais was a student, and which includes a notable collection of French and Italian drawings in the Musée Atger. Further down the hill, the Jardin des Plantes is France’s oldest botanical garden, founded so medical students could experiment with herbs. Sadly, it is not looking too healthy these days.

On the cultural front, there is always something on the go in town, particularly during summer when music, theatre and dance festivals overlap from mid-June through July; new films get a showing in the latter part of September.

For an easy excursion into the southern Massif Central from Montpellier, see L’Herault, Vallee de.