Remarkable towns and villages

32 Km west of Albi, Castelnau-de-Montmiral crowns a promontory which dominates the Gaillac vineyards, in the department of the Tarn. The setting is superb and the village, listed as one of the most beautiful in France, is every bit as beautiful.

A bastide founded at the beginning of the 13th century by Count Raymond VII of Toulouse, Castelnau-de-Montmiral had it share of war and historical incidents. The village whose original name meant "the mountain from which you see" has now become a particularly attractive holiday destination. Its venerable residences, its narrow streets and its central square have all been carefully restored, to respect the spirit of the village.Bordered on four sides by houses on vaulted arches, the central square is a small marvel of medieval architecture. Intimate and friendly, it is a place where people like to meet for lunch or a cup of coffee on one of the...

Between green tourism and cultural tourism, Figeac is a choice vacation destination. An hour from Cahors, in the Lot, the town cultivates an exceptional patrimony and honours the memory of the Pharaohs. Figeac will in effect take you in the tracks of Champollion, who deciphered hieroglyphics and was born here in 1790.

Figeac will charm you with its vitality and its style, but also by the beauty of its surrounding countryside: mountain reliefs reaching north to the Massif Central, pastoral landscapes of the Quercy causses, the meanderings and cliffs of the splendid Célé valley... Figeac’s enviable location has made it a prosperous town . In contact with the trading routes that fed France’s Midi, it became a trading force in the 12th century and a stop on the routes to Santiago de Compostela.The historic heart of Figeac offers a landscape of a rare harmony. Here one lives and dwells and shops . It is in this warm atmosphere that one finds a remarkable preserved...

The fortified village of Fourcès owes its originality to its circular shape. Its history and heritage make it one of the jewels of the land of Armagnac. To see it, go to the department of Gers, 55 Km northwest of Auch.

Fourcès is usually classified as a bastide but it is really a castelnau, a form of habitat preceding the bastides. The village is immediately attractive for its beauty and peace. Entwined by the green line of the Auzoue, a pretty river full of fish, Fourcès opens like a living history book.The round square occupies the place of the castle motte where the original castle was built, but destroyed in the 15th century. People gather here in the shade of the plane trees to enjoy themselves, play pétanque, attend concerts, hunting for antiques in the flea market (second Sunday of each month from May to November) or the old book market (3rd Sunday in...

City of Art and History, the capital of the Tarn-et-Garonne (54 000 inhabitants), the birthplace of the famous painter Ingres, Montauban combines the distinctions. 50 km north of Toulouse, it is also considered as the prototype of fortified Southwest.

Montauban was built in 1144 on a spur due to a bend in the Tarn and its two tributaries. Trading city in the Middle Ages, Protestant place of safety during the Wars of Religion, it reached the height of its economic power during the classical period. The city was built on a geometric plane, thus earning him the title of "prototype houses and new towns" where perpendicular streets isolate blocks. At the center of the city, the Place Nationale was the heart of the economy. During the medieval period, Montauban enjoyed periods of prosperity but also of decline: the Hundred Years War, the British occupation, plague, famine, a large international and...

68 Km southeast of Rodez and 7 Km from Millau, Peyre offers a magnificent view of the highest viaduct in the world. With a background of tufa cliffs, Peyre became, in 2003, the tenth village in the Aveyron to be listed among the most beautiful in France

One of the most picturesque villages in the Aveyron, Peyre establishes an astonishing link between the beauty of its old stones and the technological prowess of the Millau viaduct. These two neighbours, only a few kilometres apart, seem to regard each other from beyond the centuries.Located on the banks of the Tarn, the village of Peyre looks as if it is sculpted in the overhanging cliff face. This little village is remarkable on many accounts, and particularly its houses made of tufa, its stairway streets and its half troglodyte church.Set in a cavity in the cliff, the church of Saint Christopher is of Romanesque origin and was fortified in the...

Midi-Pyrénées invites you to the most beautiful of adventures: that of knowledge, of creativity and imagination. To experience this, travel 60 km south west of Toulouse to discover the abbey-school of Sorèze and the Saint-Ferréol lake, near Revel. Here man has shown his genius, starting with Pierre-Paul Riquet, the inventor of the Canal du Midi.

The first stop is at Sorèze, in the south of the Tarn. At the foot of the forested massif of the Black Mountain, this charming village grew around its Benedictine monastery. Under Louis XVI, this monastery became the Royal Military School. In the 19th century, Sorèze asserted itself as one of the great knowledge centres in France , thanks to brave educators like Father Lacordaire. Literature, mathematics and science were taught, as well as architecture, singing and theatre. Visit the Sorèze abbey-school and you will be able to imagine the daily life of this very special place, renowned for its innovative education that attracted students from...