Every design for Béziers

On a small bluff above the river Orb, a short drive from the Mediterranean, Béziers keeps watch at the point where the last foothills of the Massif Central give way to the plain of Lower Languedoc. Below it the Canal du Midi crosses the Orb on the Pont-canal de l'Orb, an aqueduct carrying boats over the river, and climbs the nine locks of Fonseranes in a single staircase.

There is a warmth to the place that people from Béziers talk about long after they leave: the smell of the vineyards that once made this one of the largest wine-growing areas in the world, the noise of a rugby afternoon, and above all the Feria de Béziers each August, five days centred on bullfighting that draw visitors from far and wide. The city is proud of its age, too. Greek settlers founded it before Agde, the Romans refounded it as Baeterrae, and its wine was already being shipped to Rome, labelled with the town's name.

So if you are a Biterrois, wherever you live now, the bluff, the river and the locks are yours to take along, together with every August you spent at the feria.