chateaux - medieval and otherwise

Just returned from a fab few days in Montpellier. To blow away the cold damp dull Normandy autumnal blues, we took some time out and drove down to Montpellier to stay with some friends in their wine domaine. Domaine du Rieucoulon. Very beautiful, old France, shabby chic, tres posh, posher than anything we have experienced before in fact. Visited the wine cellars (wine production is so impressive and so very unromantic) then got down to some serious tasting. Mmmmmmm. Then drove over to the Camargue and went horse riding. Well, Scarlet went trotting across the Camargue flats and I sat on a horse and got bounced around. The horse - Gringo - seemed to enjoy himself. My bottom and thighs slightly less. Visited Montpellier and fell in love with it. Modernism meets Hausmann - wonderful. Took a trip to various walled villages, towns and cities - the most impressive being Carcassone, where we had the obligatory cassoulet of course :) Aigues Mortes -which means dead waters - was a town we particularly liked. A little medieval walled village - quite delightful central square and some gorgeous shops all around. So more visiting required at a later date - and who knows - maybe we will end up down there in the future...?