Caux - Why am I here no. 1

I was inspired by jamjaragain's blog post yesterday about why she lives where she does to think about how I came to be living here in the Midi. So this is the first in an occasional series.

I grew up in Libya and in Turkey so I feel I belong somewhere around the shores of the Mediterranean. I lived for 15 years in England and then for more than 20 years 'home' in Wales where I was born but always craved the sight of olive trees and the Mediterranean climate. We had family holidays in France - camping and exchanging houses in Brittany, western France and Provence - until 12 years ago when our children had left home and we came on our own to stay in Caux in an apartment in an idyllic courtyard. The main house was an old maison vigneronne and our Swedish hosts had converted the outbuildings. We were thrilled to find our bed was actually in a disused wine vat! Our hosts have since become very good friends, but sadly for visitors to the area their apartments are no longer used for holiday lets and they have now moved to another nearby village.

As soon as I arrived in this area of the Hérault département I felt completely at home for the first time ever and I knew I'd have to come here to live eventually, or rather s soon as possible. The countryside reminded me of Libyan and Turkish places we'd picnicked and walked in when I was a child, but with the advantage of being in a French-speaking area, and we both spoke reasonable French.

So Caux is the first place we stayed in the area and it has an unusual church tower ? this wrought-iron design is quite common in this part of the Languedoc but I haven't seen it elsewhere. You can also see black volcanic stones in the walls of the houses - these come from nearby Agde and are typical of many of the buildings in Caux.