OLONZAC, MINERVOIS, LANGUEDOC
The village of Minerve and the Canal du Midi are both ten minutes away by car (and easily accessible by bicycle), the Montagne Noire 20 minutes and Mediterranean beaches 35-40 minutes. Excellent day excursions include the Pyrénées, Cathar castles, the National Park of the Upper Languedoc and north-eastern Spain.

The Minervois, located in the western end of the Department of the Hérault, is a small but geographically diverse area within the much larger region of the Languedoc-Roussillon. It extends roughly from the southern slopes of the Montagne Noire (at the southern extremity of the Massif Central) to the Canal du Midi. Although named for the historic village of Minerve, Olonzac (pronounced "oh-lohn-ZACK") is its commercial centre. The Minervois excels year-'round in both on-road and off-road cycling and offers very good walking and bird-watching.

Olonzac is a larger village with full services, including four cafés, two banks, three bakeries, three butchers, a traiteur (somewhat along the lines of a deli), two general grocery stores, a supermarket, a weekly market, two florist's shops, hardware and building stores, a news agent, a small book store, several hairdressers, a very good barber/coiffeur, four restaurants and a café/snack bar at the Lac de Jouarres just outside Olonzac. There are many more good restaurants within a few minutes' drive. Wines produced by the Oupia and Olonzac co-operatives are sold here.