Quillan

Our nearest major village is Quillan some  four minutes away by car and is built on the side of the Colline de Vitrages (Vitrages Hill) at the foot of the Trois Quilles. There is a variety  of shops, bars and restaurants located here. The village, which is dominated by the ruins of  an imposing fortress, is on the banks of the Aude and enjoys a truly magnificent setting in the middle of a circle of mountains, and in a area full of pine forests, streams and valleys. Just down the road is the Rebenty Valley, a fishermans paradise strewed with streams and fish breeding farms. In Quillan on the Esplanade de la Gare (Station Parade), you will find a statue of Abbot Felix Armand who, by opening a road towards Spain (now called the D117) through the Pierre-Lys Pass, helped open up the region.

Limoux

Situated in 25 km of Carcassonne, Limoux is the major town of the region with some 10,000 inhabitants. Although inhabited since Neolithic times the town was actually founded in the 8th century but now centered on the 12th century church which with the active support of a heretic bishop, served as a refuge for the Cathars. Twice besieged and taken, all it's inhabitants were excommunicated for their revolt. From the middle ages to modern times the town has lived from the cloth making industry, cereal growing and winemaking. In spite of it's fortifications, Limoux wasn't spared the ravages of the Hundred Years War or the 'War of Religions'. In the 19th century, the cloth making industry was replaced by shoemaking, whilst winemaking increased in importance. The Place de la Republique and it's arcades constitute the lively town centre. Saint Martin's Church still has a nave and Romanesque porch dating from the original construction. In the heart of "Cathar Country", Limoux, is perfectly in harmony with its mountain, its surrounding vineyards, the guarrigue, and the very close sea. Its Mediterranean climate (similar to Quillan) allows in a better way the city to express its quality of life emerging from its fabulous soil products.

Every year, Limoux organizes its carnival which looks like no other one. It lasts 3 months, starting in January and ending in March. The gastronomy is almost vital in its culture : you can discover pébradous (cakes with pepper) in aperitif, artichokes salads, the duck cooked in the way called limouxine (cooked with saffron and garlic), the nougat, the candies and the chocolates.

The Blanquette de Limoux is probably the worlds oldest sparkling wine. In 1531, a monk from Saint-Hilaire Abbey, whose responsibility it was to watch over the wine after the harvest, noticed that the wine (bottled and corked) had 'worked' and formed a mouse. The method was refined over time, but the fine bubbles still come from three authorised cepages (variety of grapes), the mauzac, the chardonnay and the chenin, which produce the Blanquette, the Cremant and the Chardonnay de Limoux. All three of these wines are classed as some the most famous in the world.

Alet Les Bains

At the entrance to the high valley, the site was well know to the Romans who took the cures at the waters. This can be seen from the result of archaeological digs (the remains of the roman therms) and from the piers of the bridge over the rive Aude. Alet subsequently an episcopal town. Some maintain that the apse of the abbey church was built on the site of an ancient temple to Diana. From it's ancient past, Alet has kept a certain mediaeval look, with remnants of it's ramparts, and half timbered or corbelled facades lining many of it's old streets. The therms are fed with water by a spring which is rich in chalk and bicarbonate and which is used for thermal cures as well as being bottled for consumption. In the surrounds, Saint Salvayre Peak offers a unique panoramic view over the Pyrenees and Corbieres.

Rennes Les Bains is a thermal town where patients go to 'take the waters'. These have taken 15,000 years to reach the earths surface. Filtering through faults in the rock, they arrive, full of iron, at a temperature of 43 deg C. The old wash houses have now been converted into open swimming pools where you can bathe till your hearts content.

Puivert

The ancient village used to be located at the foot of the chateau. However, the original site was abandoned and the village developed on it's present site. Pop in and visit Saint Peters church as you leave the village (wooden statue from the 16th century) and the Calvary Chapel at the top of the village. Don't forget to visit the remains of the old chateau.

Couiza

In the valley watered by the Aude and the Salz, the village once had it's share of hat making workshops. Only those in Montazels are still in operation. From it's prosperous period, Couiza has conserved some very attractive 17th and 18th century houses. You should see the church and it's alter made of pink marble and gilded wood. Near the banks of the Aude, the Dukes of Joyeuses built and made the Chateau de Couiza their residence from 1518 onwards. It now houses a restaurant, but you can still admire the rectangular silhouette with the four towers, the Honour Court and the monumental staircase.

PERPIGNAN

Over to the south, climate and geography alone would ensure a palpable Spanish influence. But more than this, a good part of PERPIGNAN's population is of Spanish origin – refugees from the Civil War and their descendants. The southern influence is further augmented by a substantial mixture of North Africans, including both Arabs and white French settlers repatriated after Algerian independence in 1962.

While there are few memorable monuments to visit, Perpignan is a pleasant city with a lively street life. Its heyday was in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the kings of Majorca held their court here, and it is from this period that most of its historical interest derives. Well placed on the main Mediterranean coast international lines of communication, it is much the best base for exploring the eastern end of the Pyrenees, and the Cathar castles of the Corbières.

CARCASSONNE

A walled city. couldn't be easier to reach and for anyone travelling through this region it is a must, It is one of the most dramatic, if also most-visited, towns in the whole of Languedoc. Carcassonne owes its division into two separate "towns" – the Cité and the Ville Basse – to the wars against the Cathars. Following Simon de Montfort's capture of the town in 1209, its people tried in 1240 to restore their traditional ruling family, the Trencavels. In reprisal King Louis IX expelled them, only permitting their return on condition they built on the low ground by the River Aude.