When we bought the property we were not aware of the town we were buying in. We had only seen the property and the Notaire’s office which is on the edge of town. Little did we know it we had made a sound investment. Marseillan actually has three areas. The name of the town is difficult to pronounce for non-native French speakers. The “ll” is pronounced “y”.
Marseillan Ville is the main town. It is about 4km inland. It is an old town with narrow streets. The houses typically have little land and have steep staircases. It has a busy market every Tuesday morning. It has a good choice of food shops which are open on Sunday and public holiday mornings. Le Marine Bar is a favourite place to watch the world go by with a glass of wine. There are many expat British and Germans who live in the town full or part time.
Les Mougères is where we live. It is named after fields planted with Rockrose shrubs. It is about 2km from town. Originally it was necessary to own a parcel of land of at least \(1,000m^2\) and you could only build on 5% of the land. These restrictions have since been relaxed. Large plots of land are being sub-divided and houses are being built quite close together. Sadly, some fine old houses have been demolished as they were in the middle of a plot of land being divided.
Marseillan Plage is a seaside resort. It is very lively between Easter and late September. It has a selection of restaurants including Mosquito Beach which only exists in Summer. It is very quiet and most places are closed out of season. It is adjacent to the infamous Cap d’Agde with its Naturist Village. If you walk along the beach to the West from Marseillan Plage for about 20 minutes you will find an invisible line which divides clothed families from unclothed Naturists and Swingers…
In July 2015, our friend Fiona from New Zealand became our first guest. We found a local Taxi company called GT Taxi. I sent an email to book a taxi and got a response within minutes. The driver arrived and asked us if we wanted to go to the Port. We said yes and were in for a pleasant surprise.
Marseillan in on the inland sea called the Étang de Thau. It is connected to the Mediterranean by two canals. It is about 4 metres deep and is perfect for growing oysters and mussels. It has a higher salt content that the sea. Marseillan has a port from where you can take boat trips on the Étang.
The Port is beautiful and has many restaurants. It is a great place for a long lunch on a sunny day. It has recently been refurbished. In the Summer there are frequent wine and food festivals at the Port in the Summer.