Activities

Languedoc-Roussillon is situated on the Spanish border and stretches all the way to Marseille. The surroundings are influenced by the Catalan culture. The coastline is dotted with small, picturesque villages such as Cerbère, Banyuls Sur Mer, Collioure and St. Cyprien, and superb beaches. Further inland, ancient villages cling to the mountainsides.

Languedoc-Roussillon has less mass tourism than the areas around Nice and Cannes. The main industry is wine, and the area now boasts a number of notable and innovative wineries that are receiving international recognition.

Beaches

It is half an hour’s drive to the Mediterranean, with its endless sandy beaches and delightful coastal towns.

The Pyrenees

An hour’s drive in the other direction gets you to the Pyrenees with wonderful walking countryside at an altitude of 2000 metres above sea level.

Musée d'art moderne de Ceret

Céret is an attractive town that has been home to artists such as Picasso and Chagall. Many artists that stayed here donated works to the town’s art gallery whose collection has an impressive number of works by fauvists, cubists and surrealists as well as more modern artists such as Tàpies.

Castelnou

Castelnou, five kilometres from La Fauvelle, is a prime example of a mediaeval stone city. The hilltop fortress has been restored several times and dates back to the 12th century. The town has many fine small galleries as well as a couple of excellent restaurants. The Tuesday market is worth seeing.

Collioure

Collioure is a historic town, with roots stretching back to Greek Antiquity. The town has two fortresses, from the 16th and 17th centuries and a royal palace from the 12th century. A magnet for artists, Collioure was a favourite summer retreat for fauvist artists such as Matisse and Derain and boasts many excellent galleries.

Teatro-Museo Dalí

The Dalí Museum in Figueres (Teatro-Museo Dalí) is much more than just a museum, although it does of course house some of the painter’s most famous works. Dalí spent 13 years building this museum, whose aim is to challenge visitors’ passivity, and it can be regarded as an incarnation of the artist himself. It’s surreal!

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. It is the best preserved mediaeval fortified town in France. The entire town of Carcassonne is surrounded by massive walls and moats. At night, Carcassonne looks like something out of a fairytale, lit up against the night sky. By day it is bustling with life and the hoards of tourists that visit it.

Girona

Halfway between Barcelona and Perpignan is Girona with its splendid Gothic cathedral from the 14th century. The cathedral and the venerable university campus are surrounded by a well-preserved and atmospheric old town with many pavement cafes and small shops and boutiques. Girona is worth a day’s visit!

Barcelona

Barcelona is only two hours’ drive from La Fauvelle. The city has everything you would expect from a major city, plus beaches and ports nearby. Barcelona needs no further presentation, but let us tempt you with a few key words: shopping, nightlife, Miro, the old town, Olympic stadiums… The picture above is from Gaudi´s La Sagrada Familia.

Cathar castles

One of the largest and best preserved Cathar fortresses in the region is Peyrepertuse. Built at the end of the 10th century, it perches precariously on the top of a mountain ridge with sheer drops on either side.