Heading south from Paris via Lyon and the Rhône
valley, you can go one of two ways: east to Provence and the Côte
d'Azur - which is what most people do - or west to Nîmes, Montpellier
and the comparatively untouched northern Languedoc coast. Nîmes itself, while not officially part of the modern administrative
région
, makes for a good introduction to the area, a hectic modern town
impressive both for its Roman past and for some scattered attractions -
the Pont du Gard for one - nearby. Montpellier , also,
is worth a day or two, not so much for any historical attractions as
for a heady vibrancy and ease of access to the ancient villages,
churches and fine scenery of the upper Hérault valley . This
was the part of Languedoc most affected by the spread of Protestantism
in the sixteenth century, an experience that has marked the region's
character more than any other. The Protestants, with their attachment
to rationality and self-improvement, espoused the cause of French over
Occitan, supported the Revolution and the Republic, fought Napoléon
III's coup against the 1848 Revolution and adhered to the anticlerical
and socialist movement under the Third Republic. They dominated the
local textile industry in the nineteenth century and, interestingly,
were extremely active in the Resistance to the Nazis.
They also suffered a great deal for their cause, as
did the whole region. After the Revocation in 1685 of the Edict of
Nantes - the treaty which had restored religious toleration at the end
of the sixteenth century - persecution drove their most committed
supporters, especially in the Cévennes to the north, to form
clandestine assemblées du Désert , and finally, in 1702, to take up
arms in the first guerrilla war of modern times, La Guerre des
Camisards, conflicts which still resonate in the minds of both Huguenot
and Catholic families.
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