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We are in the very centre of the ancient hill-top village of Montdragon which is equidistant between Graulhet and Realmont.
Realmont
is a very attractive medieval town with a full range of shops, banks,
doctors, post office, restaurants, etc. It comes even more alive with
its wonderful market every Wednesday. Graulhet was the centre of the
tanning industry in days gone by with hides from the Pyrennees and
Montagne Noir There are many examples of the ancient tanning factories
and a fascinating leather museum. There is also a vibrant market there
on Saturdays.
Only 14 km north is the magnificent city of Albi,
birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec and home to the largest collection of
his pictures in the world. Albi has many other interests - the awe
inspiring cathedral, museums, art galleries, trips on the River Tarn,
the fun flea market held every Saturday. For further information on
Albi, click here or type this into your browser:http://www.albi-tourisme.fr
A
similar distance south of us is Castres, another beautiful small city
with ancient merchants houses crowded along the River Agout.
The Goya
museum has the biggest collection of Spanish paintings in France
outside the Louvre. For further information on Castres and its
surrounding area click here or type this into your browser:
http://france-for-visitors.com/languedoc/castres.html
Another
very attractive walled village to visit is Lautrec and it is only 10
mins from here This is the famous centre of pink garlic in France and
they hold an annual garlic festival on the first Friday of August where
you can sample garlic soup !!! click here for details or type this into your browser: http://ot.lautrec.free.fr/
Being
in the very centre of the Tarn, there are many delights that are easy
to visit. There are medieval fortified bastide towns to explore, the
largest oak forest in Europe, Fôret Domaniale de la Grésigne, and the
extraordinary Tarn Gorges. Bird watchers, walkers, cyclists, golf and
tennis players, horse riders and canoeists are well catered for and
there are wonderful lakes to sail and windsurf on.
This, of
course, is a superb area for wine lovers with the 102 vineyards of
Gaillac close by. Carcassonne, the Fitou and Corbières regions are also
not far and it is all incredibly cheap!!
Summer is festival
time. Between June and September the French celebrate. There are
festivals and fairs for garlic, grapes, horses, antiques, wine, flowers
or simply the existence of a pretty village.
We are surrounded
by many glorious, inexpensive local restaurants open all year round.
Where else can you eat four courses of real freshly prepared French
food, with wine thrown in, for €11.50 Euros each? - Bliss!!
For more information on the Tarn area, click here or type this into your browser:http://en.tourisme-tarn.com/
This
is truly an ideal spot for a full and interesting summer holiday with
the Mediterranean beaches 1½ hours away, glorious countryside,
mountains, lakes, etc., etc. and the nearest outdoor pool complex only
10 mins away on the outskirts of Lautrec. There are also outdoor pools
in Realmont, Albi and Castres
However, we also come into our own
for autumn/winter/ spring breaks as well. Even if it is bitterly cold
in the early morning and evening, we normally have lovely sunny weather
during the day. This glorious part of France is not at all touristy and
everything keeps working and open all year. There are fascinating
cities and towns to visit and very many interesting things to see and
do, out of season.
We are definitely in the category of near
enough for a relaxing and interesting long weekend break. Toulouse
Airport is 1 hour east of us and all car hire firms are at the airport.
You can now fly to Toulouse from Dublin and the following UK airports:
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Southampton, Manchester, Newcastle,
Leeds-Bradford, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast City,Heathrow,
Gatwick and London City. Ryanair (very cheap in winter!) also flies from Stansted to Rodez. We are about
1½ hours south-west of there. We are also 1½ hours north of Carcassonne
Airport (Ryanair). Again, you can hire cars at the airports.
To get a car hire quote for car hire from Toulouse Airport, Click Here
If you are coming for a week or more, you may wish to come by train. An option would be taking the Eurostar from London or Ashford (Kent) to Lille or Paris and then the TGV, the
High Speed Train, to Toulouse Matabieu station. All car hire firms are
at or very near the station.
The village of Montdragon has a
good local restaurant just 2 mins walk from our house plus an extremely
well stocked grocery shop with a post office and an excellent
hairdressers. However, a car is essential for visiting all other places. |
