The Massif Central, the mountain range that extends like an underbelly across the virtually the entire width of south-central France comes to an end in the south-west with one final dogleg of green and brown overlooking the fertile vine- and cereal-growing plains below. These are the mountains of the Upper Languedoc.
This is the South of France, certainly, "le midi", only here there are two midis, for this the region of "la partage des eaux", where all rivers to the west run to the Atlantic while those to the south and east flow into the Mediterranean.
This results in a truly remarkable diversity of climate, ecology and landscape in the patchwork of regions that together form the Natural Regional Park of Upper Languedoc: Montagne Noire, the Monts de Lacaune, the Caroux and the valleys of the Orb and Jaur, the Somail, the Monts d'Orb, the Sidobre, the Faugérois, the Saint-Chinianais and the Minervois, together represent all the regions's many differing aspects, each district having its own character, its own qualities and its own peculiar charm.
