Carcassonne Cité

Carcassonne is situated in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is one of the most interesting towns in the region, indeed in the whole of France. The history of the town dates back to the medieval Cathar Wars, in which the town played a very important role.

Located 90 km to the south-east of Toulouse, Carcassonne is in the ‘gap’ between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, at the crossroads of two major traffic routes in use since Antiquity: the route that leads from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and the route from the Massif Central to Spain that avoids the Pyreneean mountains.

Carcassonne is divided into two parts: the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the larger lower city, known as ‘the ville basse’. The fortress was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997, and is also a listed National Monument of France – see Carcassonne visitor information for admission times and prices.

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Mont Lozere

Mont Lozere is in the Lozere department, northern languedoc-Roussillon. To the north is the valley of the Lot River, and to the south the valley of the Tarn.

The road across the mountain runs from the village of le Bleymard, heading south for about 30 kilometres to eventually reach the town of le Pont-de-Montvert.

Leaving le Bleymard you at first enter a verdant tree lined valley. The road climbs rapidly and the landscape changes, and within a few kilometres you are in pine forest.

After passing through the Mont Lozere ski station you leave trees behind and enter a more barren landscape of open moorland where a few trees battle for survival against the wind and winter cold.

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La Grande-Motte

I’m not always a big enthusiast for the beaches of Languedoc-Roussillon. Most of the Languedoc resorts arose in the 1960s and 1970s when the mosquitoes were cleared away from the region to make way for tourists under the so-called ‘Mission Racine’. A fair number of them are dated, crowded, have too much building and development and little of historical interest.

The beaches are often long and sandy…and very windswept and lacking for shade.

So my expectations when I visited La Grande-Motte were, to say the least, not high. But this is a resort with a difference.

Found at the eastern end of the Languedoc coast (shortly before it transforms into Provence), La Grande-Motte was designed by an architect called Jean Balladur who based his designs on early Colombian pyramids. Whatever the inspiration, the buildings are starkly 1970’s in appearance – but in a stylish and interesting way, if you are discouraged by the words ‘1970’s architecture’!

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Chateau Lastours

Lovely view of one of the lesser known cathar castles of Languedoc – actually three castles strung out along the top of a rocky ridge, at Chateau Lastours.

Cathar castles of Languedoc

The current fascination that people have with the cathar castles is perhaps because of the simple pure life that the cathars pursued; or perhaps because of the terrible persecution the cathars suffered at the hands of the Albigensian Inquisition.

Equally, whispered suggestions that there might be a connection between the cathars, their castles, and the hiding place of the Holy Grail have done little to dispel interest. The book ‘The Da Vinci code’ has doubtless played a role.

Of course, now in the 21st century, we are all on the side of the peace-loving cathars and not the side of the terrible crusaders. Perhaps the pendulum has swung too far, and at the time there was a case for the attack son their way of life and principles, but it is easy to sympathise with the plight of the cathars as they tried simply to live moral, good lives – but without the Catholic church to guide them, a rejection that was ultimately to be their downfall. Read more