Toulouse and Montpellier... a report.
 

We arrive at the Blagnac airport after a ridiculously gruelling overnight flight form Casablanca. The little man is there with our name on a sign ( that is always a comforting feeling ;) ), but our luggage has apparantly arived at a completely different carousel !! Soon sorted but hard when you are tired.

As is usual with an early morning arrival our room is not ready.We wander around the streets surrounding the Place du Capitole, Lisa is immediately feeling less tired, the place is full of fashion and shoe shops !! She is in heaven and immediately has developed a french accent.

We have a nice lunch at Cafe Florida on the square. I like duck !!!

We both need a shower so we head back to the Hotel Balcon, which is only 20 meters from the square. Our room is ready, a very cool hotel is the Grand Balcon, complimentary WiFi and Mini Bar and all in a 200 year old building. Its good to be clean and be able to spread out for a couple of hours.

Yes we are tired....its official...absolutely rooted !!

There is no point in crashing yet, so we head down to the bar at the hotel and I teach her how to play chess !! Two games and a couple of drinks later we head out to stretch the legs, its about 8pm and still plenty of light, we do a little expanding circle around the square until we decide its time to have a snack (lunch was big !!) and finally hit the sack.


Dinner was a big salad for Lisa and a Charcuterie assiette for me. a couple of glasses of vin ordinaire. We watch a soft pitter patter of rain fall on the square.


The bed is big ,soft and comfortable as all hell. Its been a long night and day....but there is no dust and civilisation surrounds us.

PS rooted is an Australian colloquialism for tired !

Toulouse is a really nice city, the weather is a bit crappy, overcast and distinctly cool, but still a nice place.

After a bit of a sleep in we wander downstairs for breakfast. Lots of pastries, good coffee, scrambled eggs and a vitamin bar !!! I select omega 3 and the Happiness combo !! LOL


A wandering we go !!! Toulouse has a great museum, containing a tremendous collection of masters as well as some very good sculpture.Toulouse is also known as ‘Ville Rose’, which means the Pink City. It gets the name from the distinctive brick architecture that can be seen everywhere in the city. Toulouse plays host to a diverse and rich culture with its ancient looking buildings and monuments and capital square which is the hub of most activities. The city towards the Garonne River is actually on site of an early Roman settlement.


It was just a very pleasant day of wandering around, we saw the "Pont Neuf", the new bridge which had its original planning started in 1542 .
Lisa had a little run of retail therapy but the big concern is packing space !! For our last night in Toulouse we find a restaurant that serves Cassoulet....damn fine it is to !! The waiter, who has just spent 7 months in New Zealand) tells Lisa that her pronounciation of merci beau coup, comes out as "thank you nice arse".
all in all a nice day.

Must have been something on last night in Town as the streets were alive until very early this morning.

We check out of the Hotel Grand Balcon and make our way to the train station for the run to Montpellier. Our seats are booked, 15 and 16 in carriage 3 !! Yeah right...the train arrives and there is no carriage 3, so we try carriage 13....no seats 15 and 16 !!! (bloody travel agents !!). Any way we find a seat for lisa and I get to watch the world go by in the standing section ( actually more like the leaning section), its not a long trip, so I watch episodes of "Family Guy" on my I-Pod.

We arrive dead on time and catch a Taxi to the Pullman Antigone Hotel, this hotel could be anywhere in the world !!! Anonymous. It backs onto a rather large shopping centre so we a walk through, Lisa tells me she could spend a fortune.Montpellier is the 8th biggest city of the country, and is also the fastest growing city in France over the past 25 years.

We continue through to the Place De Comedie.Walking through Montpellier's historical center is like travelling through 1,000 years in time, from 985 to the seeds of the city's future.
The city of Montpellier has kept the reminders of its past intact and proudly protects the symbols of every era.

Meandering along the typical medieval streets of the south, we wind our way from the central Place de la Comédie to the peaceful Place de la Canourgue.We visit the Fabre museum itself an astounding work of art, an innovative combination of classic and contemporary architecture. Today, the museum offers over 800 works, 900 engravings and 3,500 drawings in its exhibit area.


Once again, another city that is chocker block full of good shopping !! The restraint Lisa is showing is remarkable ! LOL


We decide to drink and eat our way back to the hotel....good fun!!

Today we have a slow start...we walk down to the Place De Comedie and have a "petite dejeuner", coffee,juice,bread and a pastry.... 9 euros for 2.


I have booked lunch today at a very recommended restaurant, Le Jardin Des Sens. We arrive at 12 noon and three hours later we stumble out. What wonderful food with magnificent service, a total experience!! So so so worth the money. 7 courses and the cheese selection was sublime !

The historic centre of Montpellier is very compact, we head down the street that bisects the old town and arrive at La Place Royale du Peyrou,Place Royale du Peyrou is a wide, tree-lined esplanade. At the eastern end lies the Arc de Triomphe (1692) and at the western end lies the Château d'Eau. Leading from this hexagonal water tower is the 18th-century Aqueduc de St-Clément. The weather is still a bit dodgy but we get a couple of bursts of sunshine.

We walk around the outside of the city walls until we find an interesting Rue, lots of pastry shops and some other interesting retail opportunities. I want to head towards the the Rail station as I need to find where Avis is for tomorrows pick up of the hire car. I am glad I looked today...talk about hidden away !! We have lunch at a place in the old city, Restaurant Cedarne, housed in the cellar of an old building.

We head back via Place du Comedie for a glass of wine, then onto Antigone. Antigone is a district of Montpellier . It was built in 1977 as a project for low cost housing. Its built out of pre fab material but has been designed to look neo classical, the building surround a series of open spaces, fountains and restaurants, if all public housing looked like this inner cities would be much nicer places. At the end, near the river we found the "Ayers Rock Bar", it appears to be a student dive but we wnet in and had a Crownie any way.

Dinner tonight is at La Dilgence, it took a bit of finding but the food was worth it.

We take our time packing , checkout time is 12 noon and we can't get into our Gite until 2pm anyway. A Gite is a fully furnished self contained holiday apartment.

I leave Lisa to finish while I get the car and attempt to drive back to the hotel and pick her up. The car is ready for me although the GPS wasn't, that was sorted out quickly and the Avis man gives me precise instructions to get back to the Pullman Antigone. The instructions are basically wrong, the saving grace was I was very carefull to walk to the station along the route I thought I needed to follow. I pull up in the Jet Black Merc and Lisa looks relieved.

Driving on the wrong side of the road is initially an adrenalin inducing experience but with the destination plugged into the GPS and Lisa keeping an eye on it and me keeping an eye on the road we are soon making good time. We elected to put in a route that avoided toll roads as we had plenty of time, we saw some lovely little villages.

'our luggage has apparently arrived at a completely different carousel !! Soon sorted but hard when you are tired.'

In fact this used to be the case all the time at Toulouse. If you are on a connecting flight (as we usually are, coming from Canada) virtually all the other passengers are European. The luggage comes in together, but theirs is on an open carousel, the rest, which originated outside Europe is taken to a special carousel so that you can go through customs. So you come into the airport with everyone else, wander through arrivals, and get to the enclosed custom hall.

However, we were there last week to pick up a Canadian visitor, who came on Air Transat directly from Montreal, and she landed in the new wing of Toulouse airport, with its own carousel. So no idea now whether everyone will do that in future, or just those coming directly from non-Schengen countries.

Anyway, if you are in the Toulouse airport and can't find your luggage, don't panic. It may be waiting for you on the other side of the wall.

Hi Marko,

I think it was brilliant of you to teach chess after all that travel! My DH (dear husband) and I made Montpellier our base and loved it.

Can't wait to read more of your TR!

Great trip report. Want to hear more. We are traveling to this area next year. Where is your gite?

keep going

I'm still stuck back on the first sentence of the report where Marko says <b>a ridiculously gruelling overnight flight form Casablanca<b>. Casablanca is only a few hours from Toulouse. Did you fly via Moscow?

No we flew through bloody Frankfurt !!! 2am flight out of Casablanca, flight to Frankfurt, 1 hour wait then flight to Toulouse....does that qualify as gruelling ??

(and yes I have strangled the travel agent that did it !! ;) )

Hopefully you are now unstuck kerouac.

We arrive in Olonzac and I call Derek the guy who owns the place, he gives instructions on where to meet him. He leads us through the narrow streets to our home for the next week. Lisa immediately goes into a blinding whirl of clothes washing...we were both down to our last pair of jocks.Derek is an Aussie who has made this part of france his home for nearly 10 years and he is an all around nice guy !!

http://www.languedocgites.com/
This is our place... http://www.languedocgites.com/4736/index.html
It has everything we could possibly need, a few restaurants in towns, butchers, bakers and on the outskirts a small supermarket. We unpack and then head out to buy a few necessities.Olonzac, with a population of 1600, is the meeting place of the Minervois valley.it is only 35 minutes by car to the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean and a five minute bike ride to the lake and the Canal de Midi. The base of the Black mountains with its national park are 5 kilometres away and more than a dozen smaller villages are within 10 kilometres. Only 25 kilometres away is Carcassonne, the best preserved walled town in Europe. We are surrounded by medieval churches and abbeys, fortresses, ancient roman ruins, neolithic and early man sites.

It has a small supermarket but it has about 100 different labels of red wine !!!! They have an excellent Rugby field as well, it was good to see that the Rugby goal posts out numbered the soccer goal posts in this part of France. ;)

Dinner tonight is at the best restaurant in town, La Bel, a delightfull meal, good wine. Food of an amazing standard in a small town.

The alarm goes off at 7.30am and we both decide that it is a silly idea !!

I pull on my pants and Teeshirt and I head off as the hunter gatherer looking for fresh bread, it took about 50 meters of hard slog ! LOL I arrive back home with a still warm baguette and make lisa a very healthy omelette and a mug of green tea for breakfast. I also bought a small tarte tatin and knock it back with a coffee.


A bit of driving today to have a look around. First stop is the markets at Capestang. Capestang is on the Canal Du Midi. Even though its reasonably early I couldn't resist the temptation to sample some wines, purchasing a couple for tonight !


Its then onto Beziers, the old part of the town holds a commanding position overlooking the plains. The place has been inhabited since neolithic times. We find a car park pretty easily and then proceed to get slightly lost in the twisting narrow streets. A couple of churches and a couple of coffees later we are heading back out of town, one last stop for a classic tourist pic over the Pont Neuf.


Heading south now and we soon arrive in Narbonne, unfortunately the markets (Les Halles),the place is well known for are just closing down.
One of he most charming features of Narbonne is its canal. The city is bisected by the Canal de La Robine, a branch of the Canal du Midi. We stroll along ithe attractive plane-tree lined-promenades which line both sides of the canal.
The seven hundred year old gothic style Cathedral St Juste dominates Narbonne’s skyline. Because of conflict related to medieval city planning regulations the cathedral was never completed to the original plan, but what exists is impressive. The cathedral’s foreshortened nave is compensated for by soaring ceilings.

hope the flight was very cheap!!

Dinner last night was a collection of meats and cheeses and other tasty treats, washed down with another nice bottle of red.

Another road trip today this time to Carcassonne. Carcassonne is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. The lower part looks pretty boring but the castle....WOW!! Carcassonne became strategically identified when Romans fortified the hilltop around 100 BC and eventually made it the colonia of Julia Carsaco, later Carcasum. The main part of the lower courses of the northern ramparts dates from Gallo-Roman times, the early 400's. The place was falling to bits until in the 1850's it was decided to restore it.The Canal Du Midi passes through the lower town. Its cold today so we find a warm restaurant and I take the opportunity to have another Cassoulet. yum. The owners rather large dog enjoyed making his way through the tables as we ate.

After lunch in Carcassonne we wend our way through the tourists and back into the Merc for the drive to Lastours, if you are interested here is some history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teaux_de_Lastours

We did the climb and its a pretty awe inspiring place, to imagine the conditions that would require them to build in such precarious positions is pretty wild. There is a nice small museum at the base which is worth a few minutes. As we leave we drive to the ridge on the other side of the valley to take that perfect tourist photo. ;)

We leave Lastours and set the GPS on random. LOL Actually we want to go to Caunes-Minervois but we miss a couple of turn offs and find some back country roads, the amount of land here under cultivation with vines is astounding.

Caunes-Minervois is a medieval village of steep, twisting, narrow streets and sand-colored stone buildings surrounding the great 8th Century Abbey that lies at its heart. It nestles among the vineyards at the foot of the Montagne Noire, the southernmost area of the Massif Centrale. It is known particularly for its ancient Abbey, dating from the eighth century, and the outstanding red marble that has been quarried locally from Roman times.
Still full from lunch we head home and snack for dinner.

rhkkmk, even if it was free ( which it wasn't) it would have been too much ! :)

Sounds like a good trip.

I'm happy that you enjoyed Montpellier. It is my local town and seems to be under rated by tourists.

A few points :

The Antigone new city was previously land occupied by the military. That section of town was an exciting experiment in pedestrian city development 30+ years ago.

Mosson, to the North, was built in the 1960's to provide cheap houses for exiles arriving from the former North African colonies.

I've got photos of the area here : http://the-languedoc-page.com/photos/index.htm

Peter

Montpellier has a really funky feel about it, probably due to the number of students. One of the disappointing things was the fact that the Three Graces fountain was surrounded by scaffolding, part of the renovations. Also the student influence meant that a lot of people were very willing to practice their english.

Today is market day and Olonzacs is one of the bigger markets in the area. The market starts at the end of the little rue coming off our front door., 25 meters.


There is so much fresh produce,meat,olives, sausages etc etc etc that we have enough food to last us until we leave. We buy a BBQ chook and as a treat some of the spuds. (at the bottom of the large rotisserie where they do the chooks and the hot fat falls they spread scalloped potatoes and herbs out and they get cooked along with the chicken...no heart tick for these suckers!) The fat on chickens in France is yellow...like it used to be in Australia before all our chickens started being made out of plastic. There is even a butchers van specifically devoted to horse meat. Artichokes are certainly in season,as is garlic.


The end of the market is clothing, textiles, handmade jewellery and the usual crap you find at markets, there is even a guy selling ex army gear, he also sells pepper spray and tazers !!!


We finish with a coffee in the square listening to a band which features bagpipes made from sheep ( I think). We have chicken and salad for lunch at the gite.

we decide to walk to a lake that is close by, Lac du Jouarre. We walk through the vineyards to get there...sounds great except for the 100kph breeze. We get to the Lake and no kidding there was white caps on it!! So we settle in to the restaurant at the lake and have a nice long lunch.


We do have to leave eventually so we brave the gale to go back to Olonzac.


Lisa then decides she needs to go for a run !!! (it could have been the red wine or just a rush of blood to the head !!??). We drive to Homps, which is only 3 k's away and on the Canal du Midi. Lisa decides on a direction to run and I start walking the same way and we will meet when she turns around.

I strike a conversation with an american guy at the lock in Homps whilst his boat was brought up to the next level, he and his wife had the boat to themselves.........with a skipper, a maid and a personal chef ! Tough life.


Anyway she didn't enjoy the run , so we go for a drive around the district, basically just make random turns down roads and discover another little village....good fun really.
Back home and Lisa calls it an early night, the big lunch and the run along the canal has taken its toll. I have some olives and red wine for dinner and crash as well.

We meet up with Penny ,one of the local real estate people from the village. She is english and we find the process pretty easy, working our way through a pile of suggested places. We narrow it down to 5 places to look at and whilst we have a coffee at the cafe next door she makes the phone calls......not much luck only one available to view today. An interesting place but we need to see more.








It means we have the rest of the day free so we decide to visit Minerve. On the way we visit a wine co-op (les troise blasons) to do some tasting, some nice stuff, featuring plenty of Syrah (Shiraz). I educate him on the Australian wine industry, he now knows its not all factory produced mass market rubbish, he was very surprised to learn we had vines that in some places are 100 years old.

Minerve,The road winds slowly up the valley , first climbing steeply then falling into the town of Aigues-Vives, that lies along the River Cesse. Perched like a survivor, that it is, marking the massacre inflicted by Simon de Montfort during the crusades against the Cathars in France in 1210.Minerve gives its name to the famous wine of the region - Minervois.The village is a hodge-podge of narrow alleys, topped by a simple 12th century church that apparantly seems closed. ???

There are several shops selling some great handmade stuff and Lisa invests in the local economy once again.
After another drive through the local villages we have Dinner at home.

Sounds wonderful. And it sounds like you are looking for a place to buy in the area?

I am glad you enjoyed the Grand Balcon in Toulouse, I stayed there last September and thought it was very cool. My experience of Toulouse was that the streets were lively every night, lots of people, especially young people.

This is a fun report, and makes me want to go to this part of the country. We spent two weeks nearer to Uzes several years ago, and loved the countryside.

We did drive down to see some of the Cathar castles, and now your report is making me want to go to the Minervois area.

Please keep posting!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this report. Definitely makes me want to include more of this area in our trip planning for next year.

The last day trip from Olonzac saw us head back towards Narbonne for a look at the coast. Gruissan is on the Mediterranean coast near Narbonne, between the hills of the Clape ( rocky hillside of pine trees and vineyards known as the garrigue), the lakes frequented by the pink flamingos( apparantly !! the only one we saw was actually sitting on the dock in the village itself.). Gruissan was originally a fishing village on a small island surrounded by marshland. The narrow streets of Gruissan village encircle the ruined 13th century castle tower which stands out like the proverbial sore thumb.


We were there early so no point in spending too much time so we drove onto Gruissan Plage, the beach !! Very early season so definately no crowds but certainly a nice big expanse of white sand. The local beach shacks are all lifted as the surge tides can run through without notice !! No surf, and despite the early season there were a handfull of topless sunbathers.

Back on the road, to the Abbey of Fontfroide was founded as a Benedictine abbey in 1093 and affiliated with the Cistercians in 1145. Construction on the church began soon after.The last abbot, the saintly Père Jean, died in 1895. A law of 1901 put an end to monastic communities, and the last of the monks fled to Spain. The abbey remained uninhabited until 1908, when the property was sold at auction to those who wished to preserve its art and architecture.

Under this new ownership, extensive restoration was undertaken: stained-glass windows were fitted, decorative wrought iron filled the window openings, and statues and reliefs were added to the walls and gardens. In 1990, a rose garden of more than 3000 rosebushes was planted.

In the cellar, you can taste the Corbières Blanc produced at Fontfroide as well as the Corbières Rouge and the Rosé of St. Julien de Séptieme from the vineyards of the oldest Fontfroide grange which is situated immediately next to the starting point of route D613. The Rosé was particularly good.

The stained glass is excellent despite not being all that old ! The collection of roses was just hitting its stride and the perfume was quite heady.

Back to Olonzac through the back roads, the profileration of wind power towers at times reminds you of something from the War of the Worlds !!

We left Olonzac for the drive to Collioure on the southern coast, we had all day so we added a few highlights on the way. In hindsight we could have gone a hell of a lot more direct, but we avoided toll roads and found some really nice country. First stop was Lagrasse, another one of the "most beautifull villages in France", we arrive just on 11am ...........just as they closed for lunch !! WTF ???????? So we had a wander around the village , had a coffee and took a couple of pics.

The abbey, St Marie d'Orbieu, was founded in 799, with a founding charter from Charlemagne, and it became quickly one of the most important abbeys in southern France. The village is famed for its Abbey, Medieval houses and streets, and a lovely 12th century hump backed bridge.

So, no Abbey to visit, a quick reschedule required, luckily there is so much accessible history so we decide that Termes is the next stop. Well that was was an "interesting" choice as the road there was an "experience".......spouse almost killed me for choosing it, very narrow, very steep and guard rails...........what guard rails !

Chateau Termes held a very strategic position and was finally conquored by the infamous Simon de Monfort. (worth looking up, intrigueing stuff!). We had lunch in the little village of Termes which has a little stream running through it and if my piscatorial eye was correct had a healthly supply of trout in it. Its definately not high season and the only place open was a tiny vegetarian restaurant, and we were the only diners, so the chef sat with us and kept telling us how she didn't sleep the night before.

Back in the car for another unplanned direction change....the little man in the GPS must hate me by now...I never go where he tells me !! ;)

Mirepoix is in the Ariege department of the Midi-Pyrenees near the border with the Languedoc-Roussillon and between Carcassonne and Foix.

The highlight of this ancient bastide town is the central square - the Place des Couverts - surrounded by medieval houses and arcades (covered walkways in front of the shops). The square is absolutely beautiful and very colourful as the timber-framed houses are painted in a variety of pastel shades. Take some time to admire the woodwork involved in these houses - some of the carpentry and decorative features have fascinating details.

The 'Maison des Consuls' is one of the best of these buildings. Have a look at the carved figures on the ancient woodwork, these include African heads, women’s heads and a tortoise. There are an incredible 103 carvings in total! I have to say its a place with a really good feel! The church had a huge pipe organ and there was a guy stuffing around with it while we were in there, amazing sound!

All in all a pleasant day but it is time to head to our home for the last week.

Keep it coming svp!

The last week is to be spent in Collioure, you can't get much closer to the Spanish border and that is part of the appeal.

Collioure is a fishing village, a bit commercialized but still quite attractive. Matisse "discovered" the town in 1905 and, attracted by the light, the sun and the blue of the sky and sea, persuaded other painters to join him. It soon became an artists' mecca, attracting Derain, Dufy, Dali and Picasso. The harbor is full of “working” fishing boats, as well as the four brightly colored ones that seem to remain anchored for the benefit of tourists and tour-guide photographers. There are beaches which seemed quite popular during our stay even though the water is freaking cold .

Collioure is also known for its Sardines !!! and at certain times and wind directions you are remined of it !

The local version of Surf and Turf involves Sardines and ham from the pigs in the Pyrenees!

We walked up the hill behind the town. There was an old windmill and farther up, Fort St-Elme. This is one of the two forts that once guarded the port. The other, Fort Miradou, lies north of town. The trail up to Fort St-Elme was narrow, winding and sometimes steep. The view was worth it. The town has two market days a week and they are a foodie heaven, fresh veggies and fruit, seafood, cheese and charcuterie items. The seafood guy did a nice little sideline of selling 6 freshly shucked oysters and a glass of white wine for 5 euros, and despite it being about 9.30 in the morning they were damn fine.

One restaurant reommendation in Collioure that I am happy to make is a Restaurant called,Le Neptune, here is the menu http://www.leneptune-collioure.com/ great food and the wine was superb !

Sorry if these last bits are slightly dijointed...I can't find my journal !! :(

We had a look at some real estate this morning and needed an excursion out of town. Ille sur Tet is on the way to the Pyrenees and there was a village I wanted to see on the way. The Pyrenees seem to tower over the countryside and despite being mid May still had a good cover on the peaks. Castlenou is one of those impossibly pretty places that has a perfectly placed spot to take a pic ! Its one of those spots that you want your eyes to soak in as much as possible.

Ille sur Tet is a pretty little village, very much agricultural based.
Just outside of the village is Les Orgues d’Ille, a natural formation just begging for some pics. Certainly not a place to put on your number one priority list but an interesting site none the less.

Half day trip to Perpignan, its a gritty sort of place not all that pleasant ( they do have a very good Rugby side though !), a quick wander around was all we needed. Perpignans positives include an airport that you can get a flight to ANYWHERE in Europe and its on the main rail line heading north and south.

There is a nice park in the middle of town which would have been pleasant if it didn't coincide with the finish of the Perpignan Marathon, you have to love the fact that the after race meal deal for the runners includes wine !

The Castillet shows the Spanish influence in the area, that and the fact that all signs are bilingual.

The fourteenth-century Cathédrale St-Jean on place Gambetta has external walls built of bands of river stones sandwiched by brick. The interior is most interesting for its elaborate Catalan altarpieces, shadowy in the gloom of the dimly lit nave, and for the tortured wooden crucifix, known as the Dévôt Christ, in a side chapel to the south.A very stern french lady warned me about using a flash .

The Pyrenees seem to loom over you nearly everywhere in Roussillon. We use the GPS to set a route for Abbey Martin Du Conigou, but intentionally take a couple of wrong terms just to see what is there, thats how we chance upon a restaurant in a tiny village called Taurinya and the little restautant called Taller . We are talking very small village with a stunning backdrop of the highest mountain in the southern Pyrenees. Great food ! Just for reference its just up the road from Abbey St Michel de Cuxa.

Abbey Martin du Canigou was built from 1005 to 1009, the original bit at least.The abbey consists of two churches; the lower church, dedicated to St. Mary, and the upper, dedicated to St. Martin.The walk up is to say the least is.......... hard ! The views make it worthwhile though.

Back in the car the next stop is Villefranche-de-Conflent its a medieval garrison town suffering from arrested development, 6km up the Têt from Prades, is a tourist classic and lives off it, but is nevertheless an interesting place. Villefranche is the terminus for trains from Perpignan. From here up to La Tour-de-Carol on the Spanish frontier, transport is by SNCF bus, or, the narrow-gauge Petit Train Jaune, which climbs to the valley head at a pace that allows you a walker's or cyclist's proximity to the scenery. It has a complete set of fortified walls which, for a fee, you can walk around. It also hosts a Mushroom museum.

I should have retitled this thread ! LOL

How about a day trip to Spain !! Its a bit surreal jumping in the car and 25 minutes later you are in Spain, the border gates are now nothing more than bird roosts and the Spanish cops barely look up from their paella as you buzz through. The destination is Figueres,the town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself Its.situated in the north-east corner of Catalonia, Figueres is about 40 km from Girona, 140 km from Barcelona, 60 km from Perpignan. The Dalí Theatre-Museum, the largest surrealistic object in the world, occupies the building of the former Municipal Theatre, a 19th century construction which was destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
The hardest part is finding somewhere to park !!!!!

I took an absolute shite load of pics at the museum, its an amazing place and well worth a visit.

In true Dali style there is no program and quite a few exhibits are not labelled.
In conjunction with the art there is a display of Dali designed jewellery next door, stunning stuff but I can assure you wearability was not his highest criteria !!
The ceiling of the main area features Dali ascending to heaven amazing piece of work! Also note that many of the artworks are coin operated, worthwhile having some loose change with you.

Its Cathar castle day, The Cathar religion and its struggles and eventual demise are a very interesting part of French history. The two sites for today are pretty close together, Queribus and Peyrepertuse are stunning in their placement .

Queribus was one of the ‘five sons of Carcassonne' with Aguilar, Peyrepertuse, Puilaurens and Termes. Its remarkable strategic location enabled the castle to survey the plains of the Roussillon in the south and to bar enemies from entering into the Corbières massif. The castle lost its strategic interest in 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees which fixed the border with Spain at its present location.

Peyrepertuse is anchored into the cliff-tops of the Hautes Corbières, Peyrepertuse peaks at 800 metres altitude, surrounded by garrigue vegetation, and overlooks the small village of Duilhac. From the high head-land, the view embraces the neighbouring castle of Quéribus, 5 kilometres away. The site of Peyrepertuse was first occupied during the Roman period, at the beginning of the 1st century B.C.. It had one of the longest long drop dunnies I have ever seen !

If you are in the area these are two you should not miss. Tere are plenty of small villages around with restaurants. We ate in the village of Cucugnan at a place that didn't look all that inspiring but had a superb duck confit !!

Another day for a drive in the country. Ceret lies in the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains, in south-eastern France.Céret is famous for its Musée d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art), which has numerous Picasso paintings, sculptures and ceramics, including the famous bull fighting bowl series. The museum also features paintings by Chagall, Matisse, Herbin, Soutine, lots of Fauves and a few Impressionists. The top floor of the Museum hosts touring exhibitions. Which are patrolled very sternly by hard looking old women who yell at you when you go to take a photo !!

The region around Céret is major fruit producer, in particular famed for its cherries. The first of the season's pick are, by local tradition, sent to France's President. He then spits the pits at the british prime minister. ;)

Back to Collioure for dinner and packing.

The last day saw a drive to Toulouse to drop the car back and catch a flight to Frankfurt ( which was very late) and the the flight to Singapore and onwards to Brisbane and home.

Thank you to all those on the forum who provided valuable input and advice. If you haven't already done so get Stu Dudley to send you his marvellous touring guide !! This corner of France is magnificent, the people welcoming and the scenery and history absorbing.

Thanks for an informative and entertaining report. Might have my wires crossed, but weren't you thinking of buying a place in the area at one stage?

Still do, I will be heading back for a week in November to nail something down !! We know pretty much where we want to buy and we now know what we can expect to buy for our budget. I have made contacts with local people who can assist as well. It will happen ;)

Super report, Marko. TVM

How timely! We're getting ready to do a reconnaissance trip to the very same area next month, as we're planning on spending 11 months there next year. I've set up a number of places to check out, in Uzes, and also Olonzac, Quillan, Limoux and Esperaza. Plus we want to spend some time in Toulouse and Montpellier.

We totally love the area and it's fun to read about your wanderings through there too! I promise not to hijack your wonderful report thread...and pledge to my Fodorite pals that I shall have much to report when we get back :-)