In the XXth century, the birth of La Grande Motte celebrates the concept of the leisure society. Dreamt up in the 36ies, designed in the 60s and developed in the 70s, it is one of the rare cities in the world which emerged from wilderness and that is entirely drawn by only one architect, Jean BALLADUR. Spanning over nearly 27.500 square kilometers, the Languedoc-Roussillon offers a large variety of landscapes: beaches, lagoons, vineyards and small mountains. All this diversity surrounds the Mediterranean basin (Gulf of Lions) which is also called the Mediterranean arc due to its shape as can be witnessed by a series of amphitheater-shaped stages bordering the Western part of the gulf.