Grilling under the Occitan sun, blackening sudokus, we’ve dreamed of it all year round. But there are so many other things to do in Languedoc-Roussillon. The region is full of unusual outings, which are frankly worth the detour. Do you live in the area, and you want to change your mind a bit? Are you on vacation in eastern Occitania, and are you tired of crowded beaches? 20 minutes has selected five original visits to Languedoc-Roussillon for you, which will spice up your summer.
The Haribo museum, in Uzès (Gard)
THE Haribo museum d’Uzès is a must in Languedoc-Roussillon. Built next to one of the historic factories of the German giant, where Dragibus and Tagada strawberries are still manufactured, this museum, the one and only in the world, invites the curious (and the gourmands) to discover the history of ‘Haribo, and the process of creating their biggest hits.
“Visitors have 1,650 m2 at their disposal to unlock the greatest secrets of their favorite sweets,” explains Marina Maurin, director of the Haribo museum. And we created, in 2022, a brand new room, with the possibility of attending a 360° projection on the gourmet universe of our factory. We can even taste a few bonbecs, wrapped before our eyes. Difficult, finally, not to crack, in the largest official store of the brand, which attracts heaps and heaps of fans, at the end of the visit. Especially since you can find some hard-to-find sweets in supermarkets. And to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dragibus, from July 24 to August 20 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), the museum will be putting on entertainment to get your fill.
Information and prices here.
The Perrier Museum, in Vergèze (Gard)
Like the Haribo Museum, the Perrier museum, in Vergèze, in the Gard, is also built on the historic site of the famous brand, where this ancestral water has been drawn for 160 years. And where all the Perrier bottles flooding the planet are made. A guided tour offers the curious to get as close as possible to the original source, but also to discover the history of the most famous bottle of sparkling water in the world.
“It’s an exceptional and historic place,” confides Géraldine Laguerre, the manager of the Perrier museum. Notice to those who have already visited it, the site has been redesigned from top to bottom, to offer a new experience to the curious. After a brief tour of the place where water has always been drawn from Perrier, the guides invite visitors to attend a “spectacular and poetic” immersive projection on the sparkling universe of the brand. “We travel in the human and industrial part of Perrier”, details the manager of the museum. The site also offers thirsty people the opportunity to rediscover the most famous advertisements for the green bottle, or the artistic collaborations that have marked its history.
Information and prices here.
The Albert-Dubout museum, in Palavas-les-Flots (Hérault)
Even without entering it, the Albert Dubout museum worth a look. La Redoute de Ballestras, which houses the collections, sits enthroned in the middle of the ponds, in Palavas-les-Flots. Where the pink flamingos have their habits. This building, which looks like a mini-castle, was built in the 18th century to protect the Montpellier coastline from enemy incursions. Today, it is dedicated to a cartoon star: Albert Dubout.
This caricaturist, considered one of the masters of humor in France, drew the French all his life. Until the 1970s, he crunched them while driving, at the table, on vacation, watching television, at work, playing pétanque, fighting or partying. It is also to him that we owe the most famous posters of Marcel Pagnol’s films. “Jean D’Ormesson said of Albert Dubout that he was the designer of paid leave, of mass society, and of consumer society”, confided to 20 minutes, last year, the grandson of the designer, Didier Dubout, who pampers the work of his grandfather. At the Redoute de Ballestras, we (re) discover without moderation heaps of drawings by the caricaturist, and we laugh, throughout the visit. Essestial.
Information and prices here.
Terra-Vinea, in Portel-des-Corbières (Aude)
If you want to take the cost, it’s at Terra Vinea that you have to go. On the mountainside, in Portel-des-Corbières, near Narbonne, visitors board a small train, heading for the depths of the Earth, in an old gypsum mine, shaped from the 18th century. Today, these gigantic underground galleries, 80 meters below, where it is 16 degrees in summer and winter, host a huge wine museum, with heaps of aging barrels, reconstructions of an ancient Roman wine villa and a medieval banquet and an exhibition of tools and machines used by winegrowers of yesteryear. And to top it off, on leaving this journey through time and space, Terra-Vinea invites visitors to a tasting of local wines.
Information and prices here.
Le Lydia, in Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales)
A boat in a port is nothing out of the ordinary. But a boat on the sand, a little more. At Barcares, Lydia is a must-see attraction. This liner, which sailed on almost all the oceans of the world until the mid-1960s, now sits enthroned in this renowned seaside resort. When he retired, this giant of the seas was emptied of his engines, and pulled to the shores of Barcarès. This giant boat will therefore become an ultra-popular leisure complex, a casino, a nightclub…
At the end of the 1970s, the Lydia even became a spot particularly appreciated by stars. Michel Polnareff and Johnny Hallyday had their habits there. And today ? From the last week of July, once the Electronic Beach festival has broken camp, it will be possible to board to visit it. But be careful, be sure to inquire before, because the precise date has not yet been fixed, learned 20 minutes at the Barcarès Tourist Office. Anyway, it is always possible to approach this scrap metal monster, and go around it. And that is already very impressive.
Information here.