LANGUEDOC & PROVENCE SUN

by Vincent Mallart

Audio version : www.lesun.fr/AUDIO/dolphins.mp3
The proud and majestic Mediterranean sea is above all a magnificent natural reserve for a wide variety of endangered species, offering us the possibility of witnessing them in all their splendour. Today, in La Grande Motte, we are climbing aboard a large catamaran called ''Le Picardie'' in the hope of spotting one of the most popular sea mammals: the large dolphin.

by Angela de Plano

Audio version : www.lesun.fr/AUDIO/if.mp3

What do a rhinoceros, Jean-Baptiste Kléber and the Count of Monte Cristo all have in common? They have all spent time on the small island called the Château d’If - a 15 minutes ferry ride from the Vieux Port in Marseille.

Audio version www.lesun.fr/AUDIO/stranglers.mp3

The forthcoming 2012 tour which supports the Stranglers new stunning 17th studio album Giants is going to be really demanding. Sunny Leeds is the first of 18 dates in the UK, and the tour continues into Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Germany and the Czech Republic and completing back in Belgium some 27 dates later. Fans here in the South of France will have the chance to see this 'cult' band in Montpellier on 9th April, an event which will help to celebrate the 25th birthday of Montpellier’s equally 'cult' Rockstore!

Robin, a life long Stranglers fan, catches up with lead singer JJ Burnel.

Audio version : www.lesun.fr/ AUDIO/uzes.mp3
Any town who houses its tourist office in a 17th century chapel deserves to be taken seriously in my opinion. As I step inside, I gaze up in awe at the vaulted stone ceilings below which are tasteful, modern, functional offices — a blend of old with new that the French seem to be so expert at. For me, this careful preservation of the old mixed with a desire to embrace modernity is the essence of present day Uzès.