Muret: Just outside Toulouse, Muret combines urban and rural charm. Its lively markets showcase fresh produce and local craftsmanship, offering a glimpse into everyday city life while cheering on the cyclists. The town’s parks and outdoor spaces are perfect for an unwinding after the excitement of the race.
Carcassonne: A UNESCO World Heritage site, Carcassonne is famous for its medieval fortress and enchanting streets,. Wander through the double-walled Cité de Carcassonne, one of Europe's best-preserved fortifications, and immerse yourself in centuries of history.Don’t miss the chance to try “cassoulet,” a hearty regional dish beloved by locals
Occitanie Region
Departments: Ariège, Aude, Aveyron, Gard, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Hérault, Lot, Lozère, Hautes-Pyrénées, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne.
Population: 5.9 million
Prefecture: Toulouse
Surface area: 72,724 km2
Specialities: foie gras, cassoulet, aligot, tielle in Sète, cod brandade, Tarbes beans, garbure (soup), sweet onions, Céret cherries, wines (Pic Saint-Loup, Corbières, Cahors, Costières de Nîmes, blanquette de Limoux, Minervois, Tavel, Madiran). Perrier spring water.
Sports clubs: Stade Toulousain, Castres Olympique, Montpellier HR, USAP Perpignan (rugby), Montpellier HSC, Nîmes Olympique, Toulouse FC (football), Dragons Catalans (rugby à XIII), Montpellier Handball, Fenix Toulouse, USAM Nîmes-Gard (handball)
Competitions: Tour de France, Open Sud de France (tennis), Route d'Occitanie (cycling).
Economy: aeronautics and space (Airbus, Ariane, Toulouse), defence, IT, nuclear, agri-food, agriculture (wine, cereals), tourism, pharmaceutical industry. Universities (Montpellier, Toulouse).
Festivals: ferias in Nîmes and Béziers, Rio Loco (Toulouse), l Radio France Festival Montpellier (classical music), Comédie du Livre (Montpellier), Electro Beach (Port Barcarès), Jazz in Marciac, Cinémed (Montpellier), Circa Auch, Frontignan Noir Novel Festival.
Tourist attractions: Cité de Carcassonne, Lourdes basilica, Toulouse (Capitole, Saint-Sernin, ville rose), Montpellier (Place de la Comédie, Écusson), beaches, Pont du Gard, Nîmes arenas, Cathar castles, Canal du Midi, cathedrals of Albi, Castres and Rodez. Millau Viaduct, Niaux and Maz d'Azil caves. Valentré Bridge in Cahors. Character villages. Beaches in Aude, Gard and Hérault. Ski resorts in the Pyrenees and Ariège.
Website: www.laregionoccitanie.fr
Km 0.8
Km 0.8: Eaunes (Pop: 6,525)
La Clarté-Dieu Abbey
Founded: 1150.
Order: Cistercian.
History: the Cistercian abbey of La Clarté Dieu was founded in 1150 near Muret by Cistercian monks from Berdoues abbey on land granted by the lords of Montaut. The first buildings were probably made of wood, and it was not until the early 14th century that the church and monastery were completed, although they were plundered a century later. In the early 17th century, the first decline led to restrictions and the sale of land. 1790 saw the end of the abbey, the dispersal of the monks and the liquidation of the land and buildings.
Characteristics: The abbey comprises two main sections built of pink Toulouse brick. The 17th-century priory includes parts that are still visible today. The conventual building, which was modified during the renovations carried out by Abbot Barthélemy de Grammont from 1637 onwards, includes the town council chamber, a straight staircase with a 17th-century banister and a media library (Marie de France, opened on 11 October 2008). The façade shows the remains of the cloister, which was lined with arcades. The abbey church followed the layout of Latin cross churches, with the apse facing east. The nave had five bays with side aisles. It was crowned by a cross vault and the transept, a vast dome 9 metres in diameter that had to be demolished in 1661.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1967 (choir and transept), HM listed in 1932 and 1992 (church and priory).
Km 14.8
Km 14.8: Auterive (Pop: 10,290)
The Saint-Paul district is the old part of the town and boasts a fine medieval heritage: the Malbosc or Ysalguier House, with its tower and half-timbered façade (listed in 2022), the Dieu-Saint-Jacques Mansion, home to the Popular Education Foyer, the Count’s House or Maison Delpy, the former Royal Manufacture, the Notre-Dame-du-Château chapel, built to invoke protection on the occasion of a crusade, and the ancient ramparts with the Cambolas tower. Auterive is home to novelist Lydie Salvaire, winner of the 2014 Goncourt Prize, and the Portolan brothers, Gérard, who played 239 matches for Stade Toulousain in the first or second row, and Claude, who played right wing 358 times for the Toulouse club and was a three-time international. Auterive hosted a stage of the Route d'Occitanie in 2022, won by Niccolo Bonifazio.
Km 25.1
Km 25.1: Mauvaisin (Pop: 220)
Château de Mauvaisin
Construction: 17th century.
Style: classical.
History: in the mid 17th century, the castle was built by François de Cousin de Mauvaisin, secretary to the King 1740, Languedoc, ennobled by King Louis XV following good and loyal service as his secretary (he collected tithes). His descendants worked the land at a time when the Lauragais region was in the golden age of wheat production. The château belonged to the Cousin de Mauvaisin family until 2021.
Characteristics: the building comprises a rectangular two-storey building and two wings of outbuildings set at right angles to each other. The courtyard is enclosed by a gateway with brick pillars and an 18th-century gate. The slightly projecting doorway is topped by a scrolled motif and cornice.
Current use: it has been bought by young restaurateurs with a view to revitalising it and preserving its history by opening it to the public, running a restaurant and continuing to offer bed and breakfast accommodation.
Listed as: historical monument in 1993.
Km 30.2
Km 30.2: Nailloux (Pop: 4,150)
An ancient bastide town (1318) that developed thanks to the "pastel" tradition (clothing dye) before becoming a residential town just thirty minutes from Toulouse. Fabien Pelous, record holder of 118 caps for the French rugby team, grew up near Nailloux, where his parents had a farm.
Church of Saint-Martin Construction: 15th and 16th centuries.
Style: Gothic.
History and characteristics: brick façade, framed by two small octagonal turrets, one of which houses the spiral staircase. Continuing the facade wall, the gabled bell tower has two round arched openings on the first floor. On the second floor, at the same level as the small pyramids topping the turrets, there are twin round-headed windows. The third storey ends in a point, with a round-arched bay. This is a type of bell tower from the Lauraguais region, inherited from the Middle Ages and carried on into modern times.
Special feature: the Nailloux altarpiece is a set of five alabaster panels, sculpted in high relief, and housed in the church of Saint-Martin. The alabaster is known as "Nottingham alabaster" and dates from the second half of the 15th century. Its presence in the Nailloux church is explained by the extraordinary wealth of the region's pastel merchants and their links with European art markets. Dedicated to the Passion of Christ, the work depicts the Arrest, Flagellation, Crucifixion, Entombment and Resurrection of Christ.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1926. The Nailloux altarpiece was listed as a Historic Monument on 30 October 1914.
Km 41
Km 41: Villefranche-de-Lauragais (Pop: 5,050)
This fortified town was founded in 1267 by Alphonse de Poitiers, Count of Toulouse. It was devastated in 1355 by Edward of Woodstock, nicknamed the Black Prince, during his terrible ride from English Aquitaine. It lies on the banks of the Canal du Midi. A rugby stronghold (its club FC Villefranche played in the top flight in 1988-89), it is the birthplace of a number of internationals, including three-quarter Pierre Bondouy (five caps) and opener Laurent Mazas (two caps).
Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church Built in the 13th century.
Style: Gothic.
History: the church was built after the crusade against the Albigensians by Joan of Toulouse, who died of the plague.
Characteristics: the façade features a fortified bell tower-wall in the Toulouse style, with two storeys of windows. The wall is flanked by two octagonal towers. The third-point entrance door is set into the axis. The portal is ogival in shape. The church has low Gothic vaults and a vast dome, also known as the nave. The apse contains a 15th-century altarpiece.
Special feature: it is built from bricks fired in the seigneurial tile works at Villefranche-de-Lauragais. The particular Lauragais clay takes on a pinkish colour. This particular colour is called Chafrénad.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1927.
Km 51
Km 51: Juzes (Pop: 70) The village's stone castle, perched on a hillock, has had French HM listing since 1973. It dates from the 14th and 16th centuries.
Km 56.8
Km 56.8: Vaux (Pop: 310) Pretty village with timber-framed houses. Its 17th-century manor house, built of local brick, has been a listed historic monument since 1944. Vaux was originally surrounded by a fortified enclosure formed by houses huddled together near the castle. There were only two gates, including the Cers gate, which still exists today, and the Drèche gate, destroyed by Simon de Montfort during the crusade against the Albigensians. The gate was equipped with a drawbridge, which has now disappeared, and a moat, some of which still remains.
Km 56.8
Km 56.8: Saint-Félix-Lauragais (Pop: 1,260) A former stronghold of the Cathars, who held a synod here in 1167, since 1972 Saint-Félix has hosted the annual Cocagne festival (named after the woad hull obtained after grinding and drying the Isatis tinctoria plant, which when rehydrated produces the pastel blue colour) during the Easter weekend, which puts the village back into its historical context and brings visitors back to life in the village of yesteryear. This pretty medieval village, the birthplace of Guillaume de Nogaret, adviser to King Philip the Fair, boasts a rich heritage, with no fewer than ten buildings protected as Historical Monuments, testifying to the activities that once dominated the village, including the castle, the collegiate church and the market hall, used in particular for trading pastel.
Saint-Félix castle
Construction: 13th and 14th centuries.
Style: medieval
History: castle transformed into a country palace in the 14th century by a brother of Pope John XXII. The building occupies an irregular quadrilateral and is made up of buildings from various periods, from the 13th to the 18th century. The structure of the castle appears to predate the 14th century, as do the north-west tower, the south-east corner known as the keep, the chapel, the north wing and the remains of the curtain walls. In the 14th and 15th centuries, construction of the main building to the east and alterations to the openings and divisions of the north wing. The tower known as the "guards' tower" and the alterations to the chapel belong to the same campaigns. In the 16th and 18th centuries, further additions and alterations led to the current state of the building.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1994.
Market Hall
Construction: 15th century.
History: the covered market was built in the 13th century and in 1557, the town hall was erected above the covered market when King Henry III granted the town the rank of barony. In 1862, the belfry was topped by a Virgin Mary.
Characteristics: the structure is made up of sixteen octagonal wooden pillars bearing stone keys. The moulded bases and capitals support the runners and roof trusses. A clock tower stands against the gable end of the covered market.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1926.
Km 68.1
Km 68.1: Revel (Pop: 9,800)
Built in the 14th century under Philip VI of Valois, Revel is the largest fortified town in France. The huge central market hall, supported by a forest of wooden pillars, is crowned by a belfry. Surrounded by half-timbered houses overlooking the garlandes (arcades), this square is the heart of the town. Although the company left Revel in 1991, Get 27 remains one of the jewels in the crown of Revel, where this mint cream was invented in 1796 by a local distiller, François Pons. Initially employees of the distillery, Jean Get, who married the boss's daughter, and his brother Pierre Get took control of the business in 1853. On the strength of his success, Jean Get even became mayor of Revel in 1858, a position he held for twenty years. The former Get factory in Revel is now a cultural centre: it houses a media library, a dance school and a cinema, Ciné-Get. The famous bottle adorns the facade of the building, which once gave Revel its characteristic smell. The Tour de France has stopped off in Revel nine times since 1966. The last winner in town was Michael Matthews in 2016.
Canal du Midi Museum & Gardens From 1660 to 1680, Revel was the headquarters of Pierre-Paul Riquet, builder of the Canal du Midi. Located close to the Saint-Ferréol dyke, the Canal du Midi Museum & Gardens retraces the life of this brilliant engineer and the various stages in the construction of the canal. The Saint-Ferréol dyke, built by Pierre-Paul Riquet in the 17th century on the Laudot stream, became a huge dam, an essential reservoir for supplying water to the Canal du Midi. Today, this reservoir offers visitors an unspoilt setting and a wide range of summer activities: supervised swimming, water games, sailing, walking, fishing, lounging under the pine trees...
Wood and marquetry museum Wood and its secrets, excellence of craftsmanship and the transmission of passion: three areas to discover in this museum. The Xylothèque lists and explains the characteristics of hundreds of species of wood. The history and work of the Great Masters of Art are recounted. Workshops for young and old offer an introduction to the crafts.
TARN (81)
Population: 396,168
Prefecture: Albi
Sub-prefecture: Castres
Surface area: 5758 km2
Specialities: Lacaune salt meats (IGP), Lautrec pink garlic (Label Rouge), Gaillac wines (AOC), Ségala veal, croquants de Cordes, Pumpet de Sémalens
Sports clubs: Castres Olympique (Top14), Sporting Club Albigeois (Pro D2), ASPTT (women's 1st division football), Albi Rugby League XIII (men's Elite 1 13-a-side rugby).
Events: Albi Automobile Grand Prix (September), Route du Sud (June), European Motocross Championships (April), Albi Marathon (April), Montagne Noire Automobile Rally (July), French Petanque Championships in Carmaux (July), 24-28 August 2017 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Albi.
Main tourist attractions: Albi and the Episcopal City, Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Castres and the Goya Museum, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Gaillac vineyards, fortified towns and villages, the Sidobre, Jardin des Martels and the Tarn Tourist Railway, Black Mountain, Sorèze Abbey School and Dom Robert Museum, Ambialet and the Tarn Valley.
Festivals: Pause Guitare in Albi (July) / Musiques des Lumières Festival in Sorèze (July) / L'Eté de Vaour
Economy: Pierre Fabre Laboratory, Verrerie ouvrière d'Albi, food industry, tourism
Websites and social networks: www.tarn.fr / www.tourisme-tarn.com
Km 77.4
Km 77.4: Sorèze (population 3,000)
The Calel cave was home to a major iron ore mining site, now a listed site. The oppidum of Bourniquaut overlooked the town, which became an important Cathar stronghold in the 12th century. Subsequently, the Sorèze Abbey School established the town's reputation. The bell tower of Saint-Martin church has been listed since 1879. On 22 January 2020, a 450-year-old beech tree planted in the commune won the title of France's most beautiful tree, organised by the magazine Terre Sauvage and the National Forest Office.
Sorèze Abbey School
Founded: 9th century.
History: Benedictine abbey from the 9th to 18th centuries, reformed by the Maurists in 1642. A college was opened in 1682. In 1776, it was transformed into a royal military school and remained so until the end of the 18th century. In 1854, the school was taken over by Lacordaire and the Dominicans. The seventeenth-century abbey comprised the church bordering the cloister, surrounded by buildings. Perpendicular to this first complex, a building with a tower at each end housed the seminary. In the 19th century, outbuildings were added, including the Lacordaire chapel, and the east facade of the courtyard was joined to the two perpendicular wings.
Characteristics: the abbey school forms a vast complex open onto the town to the west and the park to the east, protected by a boundary wall. To the south, the school consists of school buildings with refectories, dormitories and a chapel, arranged around three playgrounds and two smaller courtyards. The grounds cover a large area with riding stables, apparatus and a swimming pool.
Special features: many famous people studied at Sorèze, including future generals and marshals of the French Empire, as well as explorer Jean-François de la Pérouse and singers Hugues Aufray and Claude Nougaro. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have dreamt of studying there, and a legend, never verified, claims that Simon Bolivar studied there.
Current use: since April 2015, the abbey has housed the Dom Robert and 20th-century tapestry museum, the abbey school museum and a hotel in the former abbey buildings constructed at the end of the 18th century.
Listed as: Historical Monument in 1988. Maison des Illustres.
Km 111
Km 111: Escoussens (Pop: 610) Escoussens, a hilltop village, is dominated by the massive remains of its castle, built in 1185. The village was long owned by the Carthusian monks of Castres, from the 14th century until the Revolution. The remains of the castle, which was almost demolished, were bought in 1967 by the family of local historian Jean Escande, whose family still lives there and runs a publishing house. Two former Cartusian barns on the Fonbruno estate (16th to 18th centuries), part of the Saix Carthusian monastery, have been listed as Historical Monuments since 1988.
Montagne Noire (Black Mountain) The Montagne Noire is divided between four départements, with the Aude and Tarn being the main ones and the Haute-Garonne and Hérault bordering them. The east-west-facing rangehas two faces: the steep north-facing slope is covered with dark forests of oak, beech, fir and spruce. The town of Mazamet lies at the foot of this slope. The southern slope is less steep and comprises two main areas: Cabardès to the south, which stretches as far as Carcassonne, Minervois to the east and part of Lauragais to the west. There are many places on this slope where you can enjoy beautiful views of the Pyrenees (Pradelles-Cabardès, Saissac, Cuxac-Cabardès). Its highest point is Pic de Nore, at 1,211 metres in the Aude département. Part of Montagne Noire is included in the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park.
Km 126.6
Km 126.6: Ossuary at Fontbruno The Fontbruno ossuary consists of a concrete obelisk more than 20 metres high, with arms at the top indicating the places where the Corps Franc de la Montagne Noire fought. A crypt contains the bodies of thirteen members of the Resistance, including their leader, journalist Roger Mompezat, who died in 1958. He had chosen the Montagne Noire for its wild forest and its proximity to routes likely to be used by the occupying forces and had planned an organisation capable of handling 500 Resistance fighters. Soon, a thousand men were hiding in the maquis. A bas-relief depicting Roger Mompezat is attached to the monument, which was inaugurated in 1947 by General de Lattre de Tassigny.
AUDE (11)
Region: Occitanie
Population: 377,773
Prefecture: Carcassonne
Sub-prefectures: Narbonne, Limoux
Number of communes: 436
Surface area: 6,139 km2
Specialities : cassoulet from Castelnaudary, bourride of eels, lucques (green olives), limos (brioche), fricassee from Limoux, oysters from Leucate (shellfish), truffles, rice and apples from Marseillette, écu du Pays Cathare (goat's cheese), Limoux nougat (confectionery), Aude wines (7 AOP), Limoux blanquette (wine), micheline (liqueur), cartagène (liqueur), Caunes-Minervois marble, boudegue (Occitan bagpipes).
Sports clubs: 15-a-side rugby RCNM Narbonne and USC (Carcassonne), XIII rugby (Lézignan-Corbières, Limoux, Carcassonne), volleyball (Narbonne, Gruissan), women's handball (Narbonne).
Competitions: Mondial du vent (Leucate), Défi Wind & Défi Kite (Gruissan), Junior Kitesurf World Cup (Saint-Pierre-la-mer), Grand Raid des Cathares, Cross de la Cité (Carcassonne), l'Audoise Granfondo (Villeneuve Minervois), VTT Cap Nore / Déval' Nore (Aragon), Critérium de Quillan (Cycling).
Culture & Heritage: Les citadelles du vertige, Canal du Midi, Lagrasse Abbey, Fontfroide Abbey. Limoux Carnival, Montolieu Book Village, Scènes d'enfance (whole department), Artistes à suivre, Fête du Cassoulet, Limoux brass Festival, Jazz in Conilhac, Festival d'été (Lézignan-Corbières), Festival des Barques en Scènes (Narbonne), Festival de la Cité (Carcassonne), Temps de cirque (whole department), Sortie de case (whole department).
Economy: winegrowing, fishing, agriculture, livestock farming, maritime trade, seaside tourism, mid-mountain tourism, spa tourism, cultural tourism, wine tourism and truffle tourism.
Websites and social networks: www.aude.fr / www.audetourisme.com / www.payscathare.com / www.payscathare.org / citadellesduvertige.aude.fr / www.facebook.com/departementdelaude / www.instagram.com/citadellesduvertige / www.aude.fr
Km 136.3
Km 136.3: Les Martys (Pop: 310) The village has a history of metallurgical activity dating back to Roman times, and a Catalan forge (used to produce iron without a blast furnace) operated here from 1825 to 1875. A huge Roman ironworks remains, one of the two largest in France along with the one at Tannerre-en-Pusaye in the Yonne.
Km 144.5
Km 144.5: Cuxac-Cabardès (Pop: 950) The imposing bell tower to the north-west of the church of Sainte-Cécile, listed as a historical monument in 1948, is shouldered by two buttresses and features an elegant and highly original watchtower. Under the Ancien Régime, Cuxac-Cabardès was renowned for its cloth-making industry.
Km 150.4
Km 150.4: Villardonnel (Pop: 510) Since 1969, the Chestnut and Wine Festival has been held on the weekend of All Saints' Day and features products from Montagne Noire. The festival consists of two days of festivities, culminating in a large fair for local producers and craftspeople on Sunday. The village is also famous for its annual soapbox race, held on the last Sunday in August.
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