It's divine in the vines of South France

Swimming in a gently heated infinity pool with the Pyrenees to one side and a magnificent restored chateau to the other I couldn’t help but muse that if you couldn’t afford your own 19th century vineyard estate, this was surely the next best thing.

I was staying at the charming Chateau Les Carrasses which boasts a unique way to visit the region in style.

Irishman Karl O’Hanlon has created a destination that combines the experience of staying in a luxury hotel room with the freedom of (extremely) classy self-catering.

The chateau and its outbuildings have been transformed into 28 elegant villas and suites. Each property is individually designed but the mix of contemporary chic and traditional French country style decor blends throughout.

They all offer the privacy and practicality of self-catering but with the luxury facilities of a hotel alongside.

There’s the aforementioned pool, a top notch restaurant, bar, tennis courts, a summer season kid’s club and lovely terraces where you can soak up the sunshine and enjoy the beautiful views of the vines and the mountains beyond. My visit was at the end of April and on several trips to the pool I often had it all to myself, allowing full rein to fantasies that it was “mine, all mine!”

I enjoy avoiding school crowds and high season rates if at all possible and the joy of visiting the Languedoc region in May/June or September/October is that you are almost ensured beautiful sunny skies but without the holiday crush.

I’m thankful that the “educational” trips I took my children out of school for when they were younger were merely frowned upon, rather than punitively fined.

But for those who have no choice, the three bedroom villas boasting their own pools and gardens have room for the whole family to enjoy private space... but with those great shared facilities close at hand.

Leave granny keeping an eye on the children playing in their own private pool and mum and dad can sneak off for a peaceful, lazy lunch or to sample some of the chateau’s own tipples.

A once thriving wine producer, it has been returned to its former glory as a boutique winery in partnership with one of the Languedoc’s top winemakers, Vignobles Bonfils, and has its own selection of quality red and white wines.

Wine tours are a speciality but the region has plenty to please all the family, from bike rides and barge trips along the Canal du Midi, visits to medieval towns, hiking, shopping or simply soaking up the atmosphere.

A short drive from Les Carrasses brings you to the golden stretch of sand on the Mediterranean coast near Sérignan and the historic cities of Narbonne and Béziers are also close.

And then there’s the food and drink.

The restaurant at the chateau served up excellent cuisine in a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

Other foodie treats included a delicious seafood lunch in Bozigues where oysters are grown from cables dropped into a seawater lagoon; a visit to L’Olibou olive farm in Bize-Minervois where you can discover fascinating facts (did you know olives are a fruit not vegetable?) and buy all things olive related and enjoyed the region’s traditional dish of cassoulet in the beautiful walled city of Carcassonne.

But the highlight had to be the wine tasting with Wendy Gedney of Vins en Vacances followed by lunch at Chez Bebelle in Les Halles, the indoor market in Narbonne. Service was entertainment in itself. Local hero Gilles Belzons, a former captain of Narbonne rugby club barks out orders on a megaphone to the waiting butchers on the market stalls and the meat – including horse – is then cut, wrapped and launched over the heads of shoppers and diners for Giles to catch. Great fun and it tasted good too!