The people of the Ariège inhabit a wild and inaccessible corner of France; there is no escape from the narrow valleys and high mountains. But yet this is a landscape that for centuries has been subject to intensive human use. The discovery and dating of numerous charcoal pits and forges tell of a significant iron…
Tag: Ariège
Out like a lion…
On the last day of March the temperature drops 10 degrees and the next day the snow arrives on a cold north wind. March goes out like a lion. At the start of March, the weather is not lambish at all. The skies are a constant stone grey and the sun entirely absent. The trees…
Le Quié
Some mountain’s in the Pyrenees comprised of sheer, smoothed limestone are stunning; my local one is known as Le Quié de Lujat or Quié de Sinsat or more simply Le Quié. The best view is from the winding road up to the Plateau de Beille on the opposite side of the Ariège valley, especially when the sun comes out…
Spring in the Ariège
I have a few months to watch Spring unfold in the high mountains, the wooded hills and high pastures of the Ariège around Ax-les-Thermes in the heart of the Pyrenees. The land is wild and the few roads follow the narrow, river valleys. The Château de Lordat is perched on a small hill and is one…