The area (The Aude)

The location of the house is superb. The Black

Mountains lie to the north and the Pyrenees

to the south offering spectacular scenery.

Saint Hilaire is on the side of the valley of the

Aude, where dinosaurs lived. Vineyards and

the hills of the Corbiere surround the village and

the pretty river of the Lauquet runs through.

Transport: Carcassonne airport is 15 minutes

away (Ryan Air) and Toulouse airport is 1.15

minutes west (British Airways and EasyJet).

For the carbon conscious there are good rail

links to the rest of Europe via the TGV from

Carcassonne. Narbonne is 35 minutes,

Perpignan is 1.5 hours away, and it’s possible

to drive to Barcelona in three hours.
The house is fifteen minutes south of the Deux

Mers motorway which links the Mediterranean

to the Atlantic, and 35 minutes from the coastal

motorway (the old Roman Via Domitia) linking

Spain, France and Italy.

Landscape: It’s an area of mountains, vineyards,

and rolling hills. Carcassonne is in the middle of a

very wide valley which runs to the Mediterranean;

the valley is bordered by the Black Mountains to

the north and the Corbieres hills to the south.

Driving 30 minutes south will bring you to the

foothills of the Pyrenees and a landscape which

looks like Switzerland. The area changes character completely in different directions which is what

makes it so interesting.

The Cite of Carcassonne is one of the main

attractions of the area with its medieval streets

and houses. The city is in two halves, the medieval

Cite and the ‘Belle-Epoque’ Bastide over the

old bridge and the river Aude. The Canal du Midi

runs through Carcassonne, and both are Unesco

Heritage sites.

The beaches of the Mediterranean are 35-40

minutes drive east, but there is good swimming

locally: sandy ‘lake beaches’ (Lac du Cavayere)

and swimming pools including one fed by a hot

spring, first enjoyed by the Romans

(Rennes Les Bains).

Temperatures rise to the 30s or even 40s

during the high summer, Spring weather can

be good and autumns are usually wonderful in

the Aude (up to 25 degrees). It can get cold in

the winter but the snow line begins south of

Limoux (15 minutes away). There is good snow

for ski-ing in the Pyrenees during the winter,

the nearest ski slopes are 1.5 hours south.