Welcome to Pourcel terraces. Come have lunch, diner, supper, come dance, read, dream, get a tan and bask in the sun. Depending on place and day. Choose a cocktail according to your day mood, and your menu according to your day shape. Fruits or vegetables, for the moments when you feel like having something refreshing, or with a dash of liquor for chic, glamorous, festive or extravagant nights.

The starriest terraces, divinely aromatic.

When the summer comes, Le Jardin des Sens "opens" its terraces. A very small devilishly romantic, green, flowery and scented one first, for a gourmet break.

The second one, all covered in teak wood, will accommodate guests at cocktail hours or for a coffee break with sweets.

Whether you sit on the terrace or in the large glassed-in dining room overlooking the vertical gardens, you will discover the new dishes created for summer by Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, who never run out of imaginative ideas to combine sea and earth products together. Elegant gastronomic unions, for unlimited pleasure.

The artiest terrace, where snacking and traditional cooking live in harmony

A nice slatted floor terrace, lined with grass and artistically set next to the alleys designed by artist Daniel Buren, famous column designer.

There, in the forecourt of the Fabre museum, you will be able to have lunch, dinner, take a sweet break, have a snack or a cocktail before or after the visit of the exhibitions offered by the Fabre museum, a lovely historical building of Montpellier, in which beats the cultural heart of the city. During summer, Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Antoine Houdon will have their paintings and sculptures displayed in the place. And you'll also have the pleasure to enjoy the extraordinary permanent exhibitions of 17^th century art, and the very unique contemporary room, especially created for Pierre Soulage's works of art.

Alexandre Cabanel is a native of these lands. He was born in Montpellier in 1823 and its native city is now paying him a tribute by exhibiting 280 of his works. Cabanel? He was a classic painter. He mainly made portraits and ceilings. For Emperor Napoleon 3^rd, and great families of the Second Empire. His order books were full of myths and realities. He was asked to paint antique ruins, young pretty ladies, landscapes, religious, biblical or mythologic scenes. These orders made is life comfortable but also dictated restraints. When you are ordered to make things, there is little room left for audacity! He had a glorious success, while he was still alive, especially with "The Birth of Venus". Alexandre Cabanel was a wise man, who paid consideration to conventions and rules. An academic painter. His painting is just like him. 

The Fabre museum will extend the exhibition dedicated to sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828). A portraitist filled with sensitivity, with a specific talent to impart to the marble, the bronze, the plaster or the ceramic he used, the essential traits of the personalities he made busts for: Voltaire, Diderot, Buffon, Franklin, as well as Catherine II of Russia, Louis XVI, and Napoleon 1^st...Houdon also dealt with religious, antique and allegoric themes. You will be able to admire about fifty works of art gathered around three masterpieces illustrating the technique and sensitivity of the master: the marble allegories of Winter, also known as the Cold Girl (1783), of Summer (1785), owned by the Fabre museum, as well as its bronze version, made in 1787, lent by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Eyes and heart filled with art and light, you will have to take a break at the terrace of L'Insensé, in order to take time to sort and store in you memory all the emotions felt before these testimonials of the past centuries. Why not having a fruit and vegetable cocktail?

The most sense & savours terrace After its summer break, by the end of August, La Compagnie des Comptoirs of Montpellier will make room for its new terrace and its new twofold Asia/Mediterranean menu, interpreted by young, talented chef Benjamin Armstrong. The Moroccan tent that was set on the terrace for a number of years will make way for a brand new straw hut, reed fences and softened lights, in order to enjoy the pleasure of shade, under a burning sun. Long live the South, for the new fall to come. September, the nicest month of the year in Languedoc, the month of grape harvest, when people come back from holidays and beaches eventually come back to quietness, the months of mushrooms and marmalade making....yummy...No more cocktails for La Compagnie des Comptoirs, but a nice wine menu of Languedoc wine by the glass. September, great and little local wines, still time to savour a glass of rosé, such as "Senso" or "6 sens" and a few tapas...that's what real life is about! Frédéric Château will welcome you from September 3^rd on... (Wasn't first day back to work supposed to be August 24^th?)

The most musically glamorous terrace, right by the water.

Calm waters of ponds. Deep Mediterranean blue sea. A square house, set between the dunes and a beach of fine sand and pebbles, a place dedicated to relaxation and well-being. White wood, shade and light, a simple yet refined cuisine, both international and regional. Crazily Mediterranean. Extremely Pourcel. Salads to share, grilled fish, meat a la plancha, pasta and risotto, and an Asian touch with nems, sushis and sashimis.

When light turns golden, mischievous wind starts whistling and night scents bloom, discover the little extra of the bar: a menu of mojitos, original, with or without liquor, tonic, bright, sweet and gourmet, to be savoured with tapas, on their own, or to be shared, in the case of our giant mojitos. Nice cocktails for a nice terrace. A nice way of meeting people, share craziness to the sound of Brazilian rhythms on a Sunday afternoon, or to the rhythmic sounds of resident DJs. Kingdom of extravaganza, originality and chic casual attitude.

The iconic cocktail of Carré blanc:

Cinnamon/blackberry mojito.

The most spectacular, majestic and panoramic terrace.

Absolutely charming. A building that looks like it is willing to sail the waves of a changing sea, quiet and silvery some days, raging and dark blue some other days. Some sort of Titanic, but this one will not sink, although it sails in the tempestuous waters of the singular island...The terrace sacrifices itself to the sea, unfettered. Panoramic view over boats and seashore. Breathtaking beauty. Gaze in the distance, reach out, you are touching the skyline.

L'Amerikclub actually has two terraces, which makes it even more appealing. The second terrace is dedicated to the restaurant that sets its table all along the guardrails where the waves come crashing. Fresh, tasty, colourful and happy cuisine by chefs Nicolas Méot and Laurent Arrazat. On the first bar terrace, cocktails and ice creams, breakfasts and tapas. It is a morning terrace, already opened from 9 AM on. Low, comfy tables, deckchairs for breakfast served on a tray until 11 AM. A nice way of starting the day, on your own, with your significant other or your family, with slices of bread and orange juice, fresh fruit salad and hot drinks. The sun is rising in the sky, the sea is dancing, the seagulls are looping the loop, you sure are between sky and sea. The terrace vibrates to the rhythms of tapas, ice creams and cocktails. Champagne, tequila, gin, vodka, rum combine with fruits and sugar to create sophisticated, extravagant, inventive and surprising cocktails. Mojitos are kings. The favourite drink of Amerikins is the Tagada Mojito: rum, lime, fresh mint, brown sugar, mashed strawberry and fizzy water. To be consumed responsibly!

Want something alcohol-free? Go for the Red Berries, an explosive combination of mixed strawberry and raspberry, with a dash of lemon.

The most "Canal du Midi" terrace

A very nice 19^th century building, on the harbour of a small Languedoc village, a menu defined by Mediterranean flavours, both simple and local, created by J&L Pourcel: oysters au gratin with Noilly Prat, plancha of squid in candied lemon vinaigrette, stuffed mussels, cuttlefish rouille, Catalan cream.

The terrace stretches along the harbour where boats and barges come ashore from the Canal du Midi. Perfect location to sip on the key cocktail of the place: the Marseillanais, a skilful mix of White Noilly and Red Noilly. Noilly is made in Marseillan, where cellars can be visited in order to have a better understanding of this beverage that was created over a hundred years ago.

"Since 1813, Noilly Prat has been jealously keeping the same elaboration method originally created by Joseph Noilly. A long and original, one of a kind recipe. As for "Blanc de Blancs", Picpoul and Clairette wines, they mature for months in wine warehouses, before spending a whole year in the open air. This maturation process, as well as the assemblage and slow aromatisation with herbs from the five continents, give Noilly Prat its powerful flavour, and its delicate bouquet that makes it a favourite aperitive drink and the secret ingredient of the greatest chefs, everywhere in the world".

Come to Marseillan to try shellfish from Thau and line-caught fish. Some history of the region lies there, between Bouzigues and Sète, where the sea men worked to shape this exceptional environment.