The region in the south of France
The day dawned bright and sunny again. For the Benoits, it seemed like a change in the seasons would never come. 
Living in a semi- desert climate is a strange thing for Canada “wet coasters”. Rain and water are rare commodities in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France, which brags 320 days of sunshine a year.
Summer days swelter under temperatures in the mid 30’s. Wells run dry, the ground gets so hard that pulling a weed or digging a hole by hand is almost impossible, and when the soils is penetrated, the grains of clay soil blow away like dust.
On the 20 days or so a year when it does rain though, the skies make up for time lost in the summer. The locals say the rains are tropical Africain rains, carried over the mediterranean by strong winds. This winter the city of Montpellier saw one day where drivers were forced to stand on the roof of their cars to be rescued from the floods caused by 145mm of rain received in 1 hour.
Thr Languedoc Roussillon region is a semi desert, the rains are tropical Africain rains. The cultivated vegetation consists of kilometers and kilometers of vines and many olive groves. Languedoc Roussillon produces 40% of France wine, almost double what is produced in the bordeaux region.
The natural vegetation consist of long leaf pines, and scrub oak, cypress and cacti…and bamboo wherever there is a chance of water. Larger wildlife as a Canadian knows it is non-existent, but the local woods and grape vines are full of lizards, wild pigs, rabbits, pheasants, and small deer, the latter of which are hunted mercilessly by the locals.
The major city in the region is Montpellier, with about 400,000 inhabitants in and around it. The Benoits live 25 kilometers west of Montpellier, in the shadow of the Cevennes mountain range, just outside of the village of Gignac, which has a population of about 3,000. Gignac is a busy center, with a large market every saturday, and several festivals throughout the year