Sonia Gil of Sonia's Travels shares her visit to the historic Pont du Gard, part of the Roman-era aquaduct system in Vers-Pont-du-Gard, in this 3-minute video.

Top things to do & see 

The charm of Languedoc-Roussillon is captured in hundreds of villages, each with unique character and individual charm. Predominantly a wine-growing region, many villages are famous for excellent individual wines.

• Cevennes — A fine area of wooded mountains, where the re-introduced griffon vulture can be seen. 
• Cirque de Navacelles — An amazing cirque where the road almost unbelievably descends to a tiny village.
• Côte Vermeille — Canton in the south.
• Gorges d'Héric — The gorges Heric are near the village of Heric and Mons-La Trivalle in Herault. They were carved by the river of Heric in the massif of Caroux. It is said that there is a narrow gauge railway connected with these grooves.
• Le Sidobre — Le Sidobre, just east of Castres, forms the westernmost extremity of the Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc. It is cut by deep river valleys and covered with marvelous woods. It renowned for its granite: huge boulders litter the woods, often carved by the millennia into fascinating shapes, such as Les Trois Fromages and l'Oie.
• Monts d'Espinouse — A beautiful range of relatively low mountains, wild and craggy with few paths, around the D14 from Olargues to Fraisse-sur-Agout. A small side road (to the left from the above direction) leads to the tiny pretty village of Douch, from which there is a good path to the summit of Mont Caroux, where you suddenly come across a great southern vista.
• Pic Carlit — Though nearly 3,000 meters in height this mountain does not require specialist climbing skills in summer. It offers fabulous views and a good chance of seeing ibex and chamois.
• Pont du Gard — The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gardon River, from which it takes its name. It is located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins, in the Gard département of southern France.
• Canal du Midi — This 150-mile network of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.) is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering in modern times.
• Carcassonne — This fortified French town in the Aude department is most known for the Cité de Carcassonne, a medieval fortress restored by the theorist and architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in 1853 and added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. 
• Domaine de Pommayrac — Offers a charming country landscape of vineyards, pine forest trees and hilly meadows.
• Pays Cathare castles — Cathar castles is a modern term used by the tourism industry (following the example of Pays Cathare, or Cathar Country) to designate a series of fortresses built by the French king on the southern border of his lands at the end of the Albigensian Crusade. 
• Pyrenees — A mountain range in the south, at the border with Spain that offers great hiking and incredible views of the countryside.

Paul Palau / Courtesy of Sud de France DeveloppementThe fortified citadel of Mont-Louis in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

YOLO (You only live once!)

France's western Mediterranean coast is a hotbed of windsurfing. Gruissan, a little more than six miles away from Narbonne on the coast, offers both sea and lake windsurfing options.

Need to know

Documents: U.S. and Canadian citizens will need a passport. 

Language: French with a smattering of Occitan and Catalan. 

Currency: The euro.

Safety: There are many pick-pocketers in this area of France, so be sure to keep a close eye on your belongings at all times.

Your take

How about you? Have you been to the Languedoc-Roussillon region, on a cruise or otherwise? What was the highlight? Have any tips? 

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