In Toulouse, like everywhere in France it is customary to wish people a “happy new year” during the first month of the year, and not just if you happen to be with them as the clock strikes midnight on Dec 31st. It’s a custom which continues throughout the long month of January. Sweet, no?! So……..here…Read more »
Category: occitanie
Gruissan
vo (vf en bas) The pretty medieval village of Gruissan is one of my local happy places. It is so hard not to be nostalgic for better times at the moment as travel is a distant (but no so distant) dream right now, I still want to share a little something that you can enjoy…Read more »
Château de Lastours
Pays Cathare
Château de Lagarde
A few kilometres from the pretty town of Mirepoix, on the border of Ariège and Aude, is the village of Lagarde with the ruins of Château Lagarde perched atop the hill. Most of what you will see when you visit is from the 14 century, though it is thought there has been a castle here…Read more »
Cartes postales de Collioure
I hope that you are all enjoying the summer even though foreign travel is a bit dodgy this year. This post is for anyone visiting the south of France this autumn and anyone planning a holiday abroad for next year….or whenever it is that the world opens up again. As you meander down the coast…Read more »
The other side of Sète
La Pointe Courte is an unusual neighbourhood in Sète, created by the fishermen of the Etang de Thau, which has managed to keep is character. L’Etang de Thau is the largest lagoon in Occitanie with a unique biodiversity. In the middle of the 19th century the arrival of the railroad cut la Pointe Courte off…Read more »
Weekend in the Gers
Le bonheur est dans le pré, happiness is in the field! The Gers department, pronounced jerce, borders Haute Garonne to the west/north west and is home to many delightful things particular to SW France. We decided to take my parents to Condom on their visit last autumn. I hadn’t seen much of the Gers before…Read more »
Avez vous entendu le loup
Il y a une expression en Occitan, ou plutôt un dicton « aver entenut a petar lo loup » Connaitre le monde, en avoir vu toutes les couleurs. L’envie de voyager et voir le monde est en nous, certains plus que d’autres, et ça ne va pas changer. Depuis toute petite, j’ai eu un désir inexplicable de…Read more »
Jazz en Occitanie part 2
Festivals et Conférences Si vous êtes dans le sud-ouest de la France en vacances ou au quotidien et vous aimez le jazz, vous avez de la chance. En fait, même si vous n’aimez pas le jazz, vous avez de la chance. Pendant l’été, quand les jours sont longs et le soleil brille, les festivals de…Read more »
The Pech Merle Cave
Prehistoric cave paintings. Abbé Breuil, renowned French prehistorian called it “the Sistine Chapel of the Causses of the Lot district, one of the most beautiful monuments in Paleolithic pictoral art”. Honestly, since I have been living in the south of France I have seen a cave or two but I have never seen anything like…Read more »