PéZENAS lies 18km east of Béziers on the old N9. Market centre of the coastal plain, it looks across to rice fields and shallow lagoons, hazy with heat and dotted with pink flamingos. the town was catapulted to glory when it became the seat of the parliament of Languedoc and the residence of its governors in 1465, and it reached its zenith in the late seventeenth century when the prince Armand de Bourbon made it a "second Versailles". The legacy of this illustrious past can be seen in the town's exquisite array of fourteenth- to seventeenth-century mansions.the town also plays up its association with Molière, who visited several times with his troupe in the mid-seventeenth century, when he enjoyed the patronage of Prince Armand. He put on his own plays at the Hôtel d'Alfonce on rue Conti, including the first performance of Le Médecin Volant, according to local tradition. The building is now privately owned, but in summer you can visit the courtyard which served as Molière's theatre (June–Sept Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 3–7pm; €1). When in town, he lodged at the Maison du Barbier-Gély, in the unspoiled place Gambetta, today occupied by the tourist office (July & Aug Mon, Tues, Fri & Sat daily 9am–7pm, Wed & Thurs 9am–10pm, Sun 10am-7pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9.30am–noon & 2–6pm, Sun 2–5pm; tel 04.67.98.36.40, www.paysdepezenas.net). Although Molière features in the eclectic Musée Vulliod St-Germain (July & Aug Mon–Sat 10am–noon & 3–7pm, Sun 3–7pm; Sept–June Tues–Sat 10am–noon & 2–5pm; €2.50), housed in a sixteenth-century palace just off the square, it's the grand salon, with its Aubusson tapestries and collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century furniture, that steals the show.
Pages in section ‘Pézenas’: Practicalities.
Alternate spellings:: France, Pézenas, Pézenas, Pezenas
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