Things To Do
Sights, History and Culture
History
This region of France is rich in history and its own culture. It is part of the Languedoc, which, as the name suggests (Langue d'Oc, Oc = south), includes part of the Mediterranean region where the Occitan language was spoken before it was conquered by the Franks from the North ("Oïl"). The Occitan language was spoken from Provence, where it was the language of the troubadours, to Catalonia, and indeed the area has many historical links with that part of Spain. Road signs give both the French and Occitan versions of place names (e.g. Ribaute and Ribauta). This Mederranean culture has many differences to the culture of Northern France.
The Corbières is also part of the Pays Cathars, the country of the cathar heretics of the middle ages and contains many monuments dating from that period, including mountain castles bulit by the Cathars for protection, or built by French knights after the "crusades' that suppressed them, such as at Villerouge, Peyrepertuse and Queribus. There are numerous other sites connected with the strange and bloody history of the cathars worth exploring within easy reach of the gîte.
Many other historical monuments ate to be found in the region including the medieval abbeys at Lagrasse, itself a beautiful village just a few miles from the gîte, and Fontfroide. Of course, just 20 minutes away is the reconstructed medieval city of Carcassonne, a world heritage site, which hosts medieval spectacles including jousting and other activities. The village of Minerve, in the nearby Minervois, is also an interesting medieval sight, spectacularly situated above deep gorges and a beautiful river.
Cities and towns
The nearby city of Narbonne offers a lot to the visitor. This is an attractive city with Roman and medieval buildings and later attractive buildings from the 19th century. Narbonne is on the Canal du Robinet and boat trips can be taken on the canal in the city and to the nature reserves by the coast. Narbonne also offers a variety of excellent restaurants and a fabulous indoor market, every weekday morning, full of fine local produce, including seafood.
Further to the east, and just over an hour's drive away is Montpellier, a sophisticated city with great shops and restaurants as well as markets and plenty to do and see. A liitle further still is the Roman city of Nîmes, with its impressive Roman arena. and temple.
To the north is the very different countryside around Toulouse. Toulouse is know as the Pink City (La Ville Rose) because of the pink colour of the local stone and is a very interesting city of wide boulevards. Nearby is the "Space City" where you can see the space vehicles of the European Space Agency. Toulouse is also home to the factory for the assembly of the European Airbus, including the massive new A380. It is possible to take tours around the Airbus facility.
Over to the west, and the Pyrenees is Perpignan, with its close links to Catalonia, and about 2hr 40min away by motorway is Barcelona, the famous capital of Catalonia . Somewhat closer (1 hr 45 min) is the lovely Catalonian city of Girona near the Costa Brava.
Countryside and sea
The gîte is situated in a country vilage close to the Montagne d' Alaric, the Corbière Hills to the south west, the Minervois plain to the north and further north the Montagne Noir. with the 4000m peak, the Pic Nore. This is a regional park of the Haute-Languedoc and offers spectacular scenery. About an hour's drive takes you to the foothills of the Pyrenees.
The sea and the beaches are a mere 20 minutes from the gîte, inlcuding the well-known resorts of Gruisssan and Narbonne plage as well as many other quieter places. The area around Narbonne also has numerous salt-water lakes or "etangs" which are home to a variety of wild-life including flamingos. The pretty village of Bages on the shore of an etang is well worth a visit. Further on (about 1 hr) are the beautiful seaside spots of Sête and Agde.
Canal du Midi
The Canal du Midi connects the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and is a beautiful tree-lined waterway that runs through the region to Sête. Boats can be hired or you can take pleasure cruises, including from the nearby base of Homps, and it is also great to cycle along the towpath.
Eating and Drinking
The village itself boasts two bars, a bistro, a pizzeria, a snack bar and two restaurants. The bistro and the bar serve inexpensive meals while the snack bar serves breakfasts and light snalcks and the pizzeria pizzas to eat in or take away. The restaurant "Les Calicots" offers excellent food at reasonable prices in a attractive setting - best to book in advance. "Le Clos de Souquets", serves high quality food in very pleasant surroundings during the summer season. In nearby Camplong d' Aude "Authentis" serves local dishes. Lagrasse boasts several good restaurants including "les Trois Graces", "Les Temps des Courges" and the newly opened "Hostellerie des Corbières". Outside the small village of St. Pierre des Champs is the highly respected "La Fargo" and in Montlaur there is "l'Auberge de Papillon". There are, of course, numerous other restaurants for you to explore in the towns and villages of the area, we would reccomend "Les Tournedos" just as you enter Lezignan for a great Sunday luunch with cooking over a wooden fire. Further afield is the pretty and artisitic village of Aigne, with its "l' escargot" and the restaurant "Lo Caracol". There are many other great restaurants to discover!
The Corbières is an important wine area, most of the cultivated land being given over to the vine. As with most villages in the area the village has its own co-operative where you can buy the local wine at good prices. And a very pleasant drop it is too! Camplong, Lagrasse, Ferals, all nearby, have their co-operatives, caves and chateaux. Most of the Corbières wine is red, but some good whites can be found, including Muscat, the sweet wine more typical of Rivesaltes. The neighbouring Minervois is also a renowned wine producing region, again with numerous caves. Just take a tour and enjoy the dégustation (tasting)!
Music and festivals
The bar in the village, Wankan Tanka,often has has live music of all kinds, especially during the summer. In August there is a '1900 weekend' recreating Fabrezan during the Belle Epoque with street stalls, demonstrations of crafts such as blacksmithing and lacemaking, and dancing in the streets during the evening. Live music and other cultural events often take place in Camplong d' Aude, just a few kilometres away and in Lagrasse, just a bit further. Narbonne hosts a number of festivals, especially during the summer (2004 saw a festival of Latin music and dance, usually outdoors). Watch out for festivals and other cultural events in Montepellier, Toulouse and Perpignan as well as elsewhere in the region. We leave what information we can on these events in the house for use by our guests.
Sports
Swimming and other maritime activities
During the summer months the best place to swim, in our opion are the local rivers, clean and refreshing. If you stay in our gîte we will let you know the best places to go. Of course there is the sea a short distance away - and again we have recommendations for our guests. There is a public pool at Lezignan and a large complex with an outdoor heated pool just outside of Narbonne (l'Espace de Liberté). Boat trips, diving, wind surfing etc are also available nearby, e.g. at Gruissan.
Walking, cycling, golf, canoeing and fishing
You name it, you can do in the area! There are plenty of lovely walks in the region, from hill walks to ore rugged mountain walks and walks along the Canal du Midi. This is an excellent area for cycling and there are several golf couses e.g. at Carcassonne. The sporting opportunities of the region are explained on this useful WWW site. For those who love wild water, either in a raft or in a canoe or kayak the region has several good rivers including the upper reaches of the Aude, the Ariège including the slalom site at Foix, and even the local Orbieu and Orb. . There is a slalom/playboat site near Quillan and an artificial slalom site at Toulouse. Various site have canoes and kayaks for hire as well as other fun craft for bouncing down the river including at Couiza.
Fishing
Sea fishing coarse fishing and fishing are all available nearby. The Orbieu is a class 1 river in the upper reaches where trout can be found. There are also several rivers in the Montagne Noire that have trout and several lakes, in fact the Aude has just about everything including carp!. The Lac d' Aguilles is even stocked with sturgeon! Fishing permits can be bought from a well-stocked tackle shop on the outskirts of Lezignan. The local river has plenty of barbel, carp and other coarse fish, trout further upstream and there are several local fishing lakes. Head out to sea for the tuna and swordfish with several boats based in Gruissan and nearby fishing villages such as Valras and Fleury.
Other stuff
There is so much to do we cannot possibly detail it all. There is always the "African nature Reserve" at Sigean, which apart from African animals, in what almost looks like an African setting (at least in summer), there are flocks of flamingos and other spectacular birds. But why not just explore this great region of France for yourself......