Page 469 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

The magnificent Pont du Gard crossing the Gardon River

LANGUEDOC

AND ROUSSILLON

More than 2,000 years ago, the southwest of
France was an important Roman foothold in Celtic
Gaul. As they cut a swathe through the land, taking
over vineyards planted centuries earlier by Greek
colonizers, the Romans erected monuments, such
as the majestic Pont du Gard, as testaments to the
might of the Roman empire. By the 12th century,
the spirit of chivalry between knights and noble­
women developed at Narbonne, and was soon
spread across the country by bards and moony
romantics. The Canal du Midi was carved through
the heart of the region 500 years later; it was
intended to provide a passage for merchants and
ships between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean
but, following the advent of the more efficient
railway system, it was soon co­opted by pleasure­
seekers and never quite served its purpose.
Disaster stuck this region of winegrowers in 1872
by the spread of phylloxera, an aphid­like
infestation that destroyed centuries­old grape
vines in their thousands. By World War I, wine
production was sufficient that the region was
given responsibility of supplying the daily wine
ration to French soldiers. The region shot into
prominence again in the 1970s with discovery of
Tautavel Man, which proved that the region has
been inhabited since 450,000 years BC.
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