Experience the best of Sète

Sète is built around a hill, Mont Saint-Clair, at the edge of the Étang de Thau lagoon, and is crossed by canals that have earned it the nickname Venice of Languedoc. Fishing boats unload at the quays, and houses in ochre and pink line the water. The poet Paul Valéry was born here and is buried in the Cimetière Marin overlooking the sea, and the singer Georges Brassens, also born in Sète, has a museum in town.

Water jousting is the town's great tradition, with teams on boats on the canal trying to knock each other off with lances, and the main contests come at the Saint-Louis festival in late August. Long beaches run along the sand bar towards Agde, and the oyster beds of the Étang de Thau lie close to the town. Montpellier, the regional capital, is a short way north-east.

Tielle, a pie of octopus in a spicy tomato sauce, is the dish of Sète, along with bourride fish stew and oysters from the lagoon. Picpoul de Pinet, a crisp white wine from vines beside the lagoon, goes with them. Winters are mild, and summer is festival time.