Places of local interest and note

The Languedoc and Departement de' L'Aude

The Languedoc is the region of south west France spreading from Nimes in the East , via Montpellier and on towards Perpignan in the west and past Carcassonne to the North.

The name Languedoc dates back to the XIII century, when the 'langue d'Oc' (d'Oc meaning yes in Occitan) was used instead of the language of Oïl, practised throughout the rest of the kingdom and later to become the official French language.

The Langue d'Oc, the Latin-based language of southern France, never officially recognised, but spoken locally from the 10th century until the teaching of French became obligatory at the end of the 19th century.

The Languedoc is made up of 5 regions with the Aude being centred on Carcassonne , adjoining the Pyrenees Orientales to the south and the Herault to the North and east.

The Medieval Cité of Carcassonne

The Walled City of Carcassonne is known first and foremost as a fortified medieval town; but this rocky outcrop has been occupied by man since the 6th century B.C., first as a gaul settlement, then as a Roman town fitted with ramparts as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. After the death of Charlemagne, the dismembering of the Empire gave birth to the feudal system. It was under the dynasty of the Trencavels, from 1082 to 1209, that the town began to gain tremendous influence. On the western face of this primitive fortification rests the castle, built in the 12th century by the vicomtes Trencavels. During the Middle Ages it continued under the control of the Counts of Toulouse, a prosperous period during which Catharism grew rapidly. Raymond Roger Trencavel, vicomte of Carcassonne (1194-1209) both tolerated and protected the heretics on his own lands, but in the early 13th century, Carcassonne was taken by Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade, launched by the Pope and France against the rising tide of Catharism in the area.

The Treaty of Meaux in the 13th century which then Languedoc independence to an end after twenty years of combat between the Counts of Toulouse and Kings of France it was then annexed and brought under the French Crown in 1224 . The Cité expanded dramatically in the 13th century with the establishment of the new town , La Bastide Saint-Louis on the left bank of the river. This new town was the subject to major expansion throughout the 18th and 19th centuries as substantial wealth came to the area. The Cité lost its strategic importance after the signing of the Pyrénées Treaty in 1659 when its role as a front line of the Franco Spanish border diminished. During the 18th century the old Cité was all but abandoned as a slum off shoot of the modern wealthy town below the walls. In the second half of the 19th century the Cité was almost demolished, but instead it underwent a major restoration project supervised by the architect Viollet-le-Duc. Thus saved from destruction it has achieved world renown as the largest and finest restored medieval city in Europe and was included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List in 1997.

Canal du Midi

Until the opening of the Canal du Midi in 1681 traffic from the Atlantic coast of France to the mediterannean involved a month's trip around hostile Spain. It was built under the supervision of Pierre-Paul Riquet, a rich tax-farmer. He bankrupted himself in the personal undertaking and died destitute in 1680, just months before the Canal was opened to navigation. Riquet was not alone in the undertaking: his 12,000 workers toiled for fifteen years to create the Canal. The 240 km canal connects the Garonne River near Bordeaux to the Mediterranean port of Seté and is the busiest canal currently in use in Europe.

The canal provides some beautiful walks and in the town of Trebes, only a mile from Cantalauze, you can take boat rides to local points of interest such as Carcassonne. For the more adventurous you can rent your own boat for longer trips either North or South from Cantalauze.

The Cathars

The Cathars, also known as the Albigensians, were adherent to the beliefs of Catharism. Catharism was a belief-system which combined Christianity with apparent Manichaean influences; it was declared a heresy by the Catholic Church. Catharism was widespread for a short period of time in the Middle Ages in and around the Carcassonne area of the Languedoc, before being violently suppressed by French lords after the Catholic Church declared the Cathars a heretical sect. Many impressive ruined Cathar castles and towns, such as Minerve, are a reminder of this short but important period of Languedoc history. Of these, the castles of Queribus and Peyrepertuse in the Pays Cathares or the castle of Montferrand on the ridge of the Pic St Loup, are striking examples from this bleak and violent period of local history.

Aigues mortes

In 1240 King Louis IX decided to build a new city with direct access to the Mediterranean and chose Aigues Mortes in the marshy Camargue area of the Languedoc for this project. It was the first French controlled Mediterranean port and it was from here that Saint Louis and the seventh Crusade departed. It prospered until the mid 19th century when Provence became a part of France and Marseille developed into the major port in the area.

Other major towns and cities within an hour of Carcassonne

• Toulouse - regional capital
• Narbonne
• Bezier
• Perpignan

If you are feeling more adventurous Spain is within easy reach of Cantalauze with the Salvidor D'Ali museum at Figueras (1 1/2 hrs), and Barcelona (less than 2 1/2 hrs)

For skiers it is only 2 hours or so to the Pyrenees or Andorra.

The mediterranean and its beaches

Less than an hour from Cantalauze are endless miles of sandy beaches at resorts like Gruissan and further south the captivating Collioure , the St Tropez of the Languedoc. There are over 70 kilometres (40 miles) of golden sandy beaches stretching from the mouth of the River Aude, down the length of the Golfe du Lion to the rugged cliffs of the Côte Vermeille at the Spanish border. On the edges of two stunning lagoons south of Narbonne and boasting 30 kilometres of golden beach between them, Port la Nouvelle and Port Leucate both lend themselves to many different sporting activities, from sailing to horse riding, and are well served with excellent resort facilities including a water park.

Just south of Narbonne Plage is Gruissan, a village known for its fishing and wine industries and for its 1300 beach chalets built on stilts and immortalised in the film "Betty Blue".