Down in France's south-west corner between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea lies the region known as the Midi-Pyrénées which, with its 45 349 km2 and no less than eight départements, is larger than either Belgium or Switzerland though remaining relatively sparsely populated with an average of only 55 inhabitants per square kilometre, a figure which drops to a mere 10 in certain parts of the region.

Long ago the region was an integrated part of the Roman Empire until the Visigoths overran it in the 5th century and, contrary to the barbaric reputation they have been doted with, began developing agriculture and setting up the bases of early law.

Agriculture has been a major part of everyday life in the region ever since with a wide range of crops and livestock being farmed to this day (flour, maize, vines, fruit, sunflowers, cattle, pigs and poultry).

The landscape in the region, as so often is the case in France, is quite varied but can be clearly divided into four main categories:

Firstly, the highlands of the Massif Centrale in the north between the Lot and the Aveyron with its two distinct geological formations; the Ségelas, ancient granite which has rendered the land largely infertile due to its impermeability and the Causses Plateau, chalky and very permeable rock which has allowed the creation of magnificent underground caves and caverns such as Padirac.

Secondly, the Quercy and Rouergue plateaux and the vast valleys of the Dordogne and the Célé which cross the region from east to west before joining the Gironde and the Lot.

Thirdly, the largely agricultural plains and gentle, rolling foothills surrounding the region's principal town, Toulouse, and finally the Pyrénées mountain range, the natural barrier between France and neighbouring Spain with its many ski resorts and high altitude activities all year round.

There are two major natural forces which meet in the skies over the Midi-Pyrénées and dictate the regional climate. The damp ocean air coming in from the west and the dry Mediterranean air arriving from the east. When the two encounter each other, spectacular storms are often the result but under normal climatical circumstances the ocean breezes are mainly responsable for warm, wet winters which become increasingly cold and dry the further east you go. Warm winds are also a feature in the Pyrénées where the farming community claim they dry up the crops and make them "temporarily" ill-tempered.

Generally, after the wind, warm, open-windowed nights follow, and the whole region enjoys long and and very warm summers. Spring, however tends to be quite humid.