If you love outdoor activity, Maison Rose-Clair is the place to be. With both the sea and mountains just minutes away, there’s something for everybody. And with 300 sunny days a year, you can play tennis, golf or cycle year-round.
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TENNIS
Four clay courts just 3 km away in Pezenas. You can ride your bike to them. They are a very friendly group and the club welcomes guests for just 7.50 euros. There are also two excellent hard courts in Tourbes, five minutes away, and Cap d’Agde, 20 minutes away, boasts the largest tennis training facility in Europe, with 28 outside courts, including 4 red clay, and 8 indoor courts, 2 of them clay. You can play at the Cap d’Agde Centre International du Tennis without a membership, for a reasonable guest fee.
GOLF
There’s no shortage of first-class courses within minutes of Maison Rose-Clair. One of our favourites is the par-72 Saint Thomas Golf in nearby Beziers, where green spaces and wild natural typically Mediterranean areas co-exist. Cap d’Agde Golf International has an excellent course designed by Ronald Fream. It has an 18 hole, par 72 course, a 9 hole training round, a driving range and a putting zone.
CYCLING
What can you say about a place the Tour de France passes through? Great cycling is an understatement. The Languedoc is web of gorgeous quiet country roads through vineyards, charming villages and even up steep mountain roads, for the expert cyclist. For those less inclined to face the incline, there is a 240km path alongside the Canal du Midi. That’s just one of the many Voie Vert trails that follow quiet tracks and canal banks. You can bring your own bike or hire one for a half-day, day or week at Planet Velo in Pezenas.
MOUNTAIN BIKING
Call it mountain biking or call it what the French do – VTT. Either way, riding in the Languedoc rivals anywhere else we’ve ridden, and that includes the Rocky Mountains, the red rock of Arizona and the Canadian Shield. The FFC (Federation Francais de Cyclisme) operates 10 trails in the Languedoc-Roussillion. The FFC- VTT parks guarantee at least 100km of routes of all ranges and a quality of service. The routes are all signposted, rated for level of difficulty from green (beginner) to black (expert) and well maintained. They all have maps available and even somewhere to wash your bike afterwards! You can go on epic rides through the Cevennes mountain range, around a dormant volcano by the sea, or through any one of the hundreds of lake and vineyard trails. One of our favourites is Lac du Salagou, with 270 km over 14 routes, ranging from green to black. Salagou is a stunning lake that looks like a Chinese watercolour, and it’s just a 15 minute drive away. But there are excellent rides even closer to home. Step out the door of Maison Rose-Clair and you are at the trailhead of a picturesque 10 km track that circles the village, with extra loops that go off even further into the hills and vineyards. The main trail of the Circuit de Saint Antoine is an easy ride, but the loops that go off it range from intermediate to challenging, and they’re all spectacular riding. You can bring your own bike or hire one for a half-day, day or week at Planet Velo in Pezenas.
HORSEBACK RIDING
There are unbelievable riding opportunities in the Languedoc. In fact, our region is home to the Sentier Cathar, the most famous riding trail in France, which passes Cathar castles on its way from the Mediterranean to the Pyrenees foothills. Another brilliant day with horses is in the Camargue, home to the world-famous wild Camargue horses. These hardy white ponies have lived in the Camargue, just east of Montpellier, since pre-historic times. They can go anywhere, and you often see herds of them splashing joyfully through the sea or galloping across sand dunes. They still live semi-wild, but they’re calm and easy to get along with, and there are stables all over the Camargue where you can hire a Camargue horse by the day or half-day. There are also several riding stables within minutes of Maison Rose-Clair, including Les Beluguettes.
HIKING
Whether you prefer your hikes through picturesque rolling vineyards or across rugged mountains, you’ll find a trail to suit you in the Herault. It all starts practically at the doorstep of Maison Rose-Clair. The trailhead to the beautiful Circuit de Saint Antoine is at the end of our street. It runs through vineyards and hills in a 10 km loop around the village, climbing to an ancient ruined hermitage. It’s a trail with lots of easy and accessible sections, with more challenging trails running off from it. Further afield, you can hike the spectacular Herault Gorge, follow part of the route of the Pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela in breath-taking Saint Guilhem le Desert, or climb the trail up the mountain at Cirque des Navacelles for a jaw-dropping view of the valley below.
