There's a Montpelier in the USA as well (I reckon that's where Samantha and Jillian came from.) The Yankees named their Montpelier in honour of the French who'd helped them fight the British in the War of Independence. The Yankees celebrated with their French buddies, drank Vin de Pays d'Oc and renamed their Yorkshire Puddings Freedom Crêpes. How times have changed.
In the Aude department lies the magnificent fortress-city of Carcassonne. The Celts probably started it, the Romans added to it and were thrown out in AD 462 by the Goths (who then, as today, tended to dress in black and listen to gloomy music.) Frankish King Clovis tried to get in in 508, but the Goths weren't having any of it. In 725 the Goths were thrown out by Saracens from Barcelona, who in turn were thrown out by King Pippin, who must have been much harder than his name suggests ("Hey, don't mess with Pippin!") Carcassonne today is allegedly haunted by several ghosts, including a fat man who stands and stares at tourists. Terrifying.
The Romans built some of their finest ruins in Nîmes. Many of these were built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, including the Maison Carrée or square house, so called because it's rectangular. Prior to redeveloping Nîmes, Marcus famously defeated the last Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, who had a legendary asp.
La Résidence - THE French Property People
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