Once—or twice in a lifetime, if you're lucky—you'll find a summer haven with a vibe that dissolves any lingering traces of urban stress. For me, Roquemengarde, in Languedoc, France, is such a place.

Its fortified towers, situated in the river Hérault, date from the time of the first crusade, in the late 11^th century. It is believed to have been a stop for knights heading east to reclaim the Holy Land from the Saracens.

Today Roquemengarde is a place where friends gather to celebrate the long-awaited month of August—and to escape from their own personal crusades in the world of art and design.

The other day I caught a small party setting out, on a paddleboard and a windsurfer, to explore a medieval tower several kilometers upstream. They soon caught up with the two rowboats that embarked ahead of them.