North of Carcassonne.

See St. Pons de Thomières, a lovely city in a valley. See three excellent rural and mountainous areas - Monts de Lacaune, le Sidobre and, perhaps best of all, les Monts d'Espinousse. See the Gorges d'Héric. Go to Albi and see the cathedral and the wonderful Toulouse-Lautrec museum.

Quick Tips:

If you are into Goya there is a museum of his work in Castres - but be warned; the ventilation was almost non-existant in 1994 when we were there in blistering heat.

Best Way To Get Around:

There is a lot of great walking in the area but the heat reduced what we did, largely to what we could do in an evening. Otherwise we were dependant on the car as we were camping on a very rural and fairly remote site.

This was technically Camping a la Ferme but this Dutch site had plenty of facilities including a gite, some chalets for hire and a good shop. The toilet and washing facilities were excellent. I gather that there is now a restaurant. Fortunately some of the sites are shaded and we tended to laze here during the extreme heat. There is a village [Fraisse-sur Agoût] nearby with a bar selling the most delicious pizzas and easy access by car to the little city of St. Pons and to three lovely areas; Sidobre, Monts de Lacaune and Monts d'Espinousse. A great place to camp!

This restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays. It is near the centre of Albi and is one of very few vegetarian places listed anywhere in the area. There is seating outside but in the terrific heat, the interior was wonderfully cool and shaded. There was no problem about eating less than a full meal and I think we just had a starter and pudding and a fruit juice - though there is plenty of wine, including organics, to chose from. There was not a vast choice of menu items but what we had was utterly delicious. I am not a vegetarian myself but I should not dream of going anywhere else if I am in Albi again.

Albi is a very pleasant southern French city which, from my point of view, has three major poins of interest. One is le Tournasol vegetarian restaurant which has its own dining entry here. The other two are the cathedral and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum which is next to it.

Albi Cathedral is quite unlike any other I have seen and on those grounds must be worth a visit, albeit if the impression it creates is anything like what it did for me, it might be quite a short visit!

The exterior of this 12th to 16th century building is harsh and military - clearly built for defense. As soon as you enter the contrast is dramatic. Words like sumptuous are often used for the decoration and every square inch of red brick is covered in paintings. I think anyone must feel an immense reaction to the extremity of it. I know people, otherwise reasonable at that, who love it. We both felt utter loathing and on its own I should be giving a 1 star note below - but it is not on its own. Next to it in the old Episcopal Palace is the museum of Toulouse-Lautrec's works. This is simply great and leads me to the 3 star overall rating below.

Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi in 1864. He was an aristocrat but did not enjoy good health and managed to break both his legs between the ages of 12 and 14 after which they stopped growing and he only attained a height of 1.5 meters. he managed, none the less, to participate in Parisian night life and many of his artistic works have this as their subject. This may well be the best collection anywhere of his works.

It is the only permanent collection in France of Spanish art of this period and there are some great works there but it is no place to be on an afternoon with the temperature in the 90s. If they have heard of ventilation, they were keeping the fact a closely guarded secret. Among the Goyas is a self-portrait of the artist wearing glasses and a number of other portraits. In an area which delights mainly in the outdoors, this must provide one of a limited number of things for bad weather.

This is not a very well known area, particularly when you consider all the people who flock to nearby Carcassonne. The river Agout winds around the edge of the area which is a plateau of granite, pleasantly undulating and enjoying a significant amount of woodland which gives it huge appeal in the heat. The glory of the area, however, is the number of massive boulders which assume the most interesting shapes. It is well worth spending some time wandering about the area and seeking out some of the more celebrated rocks, especially: Chaos de Saint Dominique, turning off D622; Peyro Clabado, a massive block of granite weighing over 750 tons, apparently of a shape that does not allow for equilibrium, perched firmly on some very small rocks - hard to portray verbally the impact of this sight; Les Trois Fromages - a vast block of granite fissured by ice erosion into three parts. This last one involves a short walk with waymarks downhill through delightful woodlands, and then if you continue, you come to the Roc de l'Oie, a very hsapely block which impacts on me more as a seal than a goose - but take your pick; it is a fine rock on a delightful walk in a splendid area hwich deserves to be better known.

This is not a natural wonder in the same sense as the Alps or the Pyrenees. Snow plays no part of the summer appeal and the height is very modest by these standards - just over 1000 meters in fact at the top of Mont Caroux. However if you want beauty of a much more restful kind you could look a long way and not do better. It is possible to make the main height from Lamalou on the Orb valley or from Olargues on its tributary, the Jaur or even from St Pons de Thomières, a bit further west. Whichever you choose it is best to do a drive through the Monts and down to one of the other points. The drive through the mixed forests near the top is tranquil and beautiful and gives majestic views of the valley from some points.

Mont Caroux is usually thought of as part of the Espinouse but it actually slightly separate with the Gorges d'Héric in between. To reach the top relatively easily and without too much exposure to the sun [the exposure is total but the distance is short!] take the D180e, a short cul-de-sac off the D180 to its end in Douch, a pretty little village with honey for sale and not much else. Then take to your feet for a couple of hours. Veer left on the path early on and you will find it quite hard to avoid coming to the top, near which is an orientation table. There are terrific rocky gorges below you on the way down to the Orb valley and the Gorges d'Héric really call, until you remember that your car is the other way and you would have to toil back up! This is a superb place to stop for a picnic and it is far less populated than many places in France with views of this standard.

St Pons is at the source of the Jaur, snuggled into the valley and surrounded by mountains. it is a principal spot in the Haut-Languedoc National Park. We had never heard of it until we saw a signpost nearby and I have met few who have and yet it is a really smashing little place. The street through the city, a bit narrow for its purpose at the best of times is hopelessly blocked on Wednesdays which are market days.

The cathedral, which I gather has a really good organ, is far more picturesque than most in Southern France though I am a bit puzzled by it. Built in a beautiful tan coloured stone it has some parts which are pure Romanesque in style and yet I have found nothing on the web which dates it earlier than the 13th century, when the gothic style had taken over in much of southern France. I supppose it was something of a backwater.

Anyway it is a fine place and a brilliant centre.