Perpignan, France Area - What Is There To Do??

Nearby Collioure is very picturesque. The Cathar castle ruins are a short drive into the Pyrenees. I've read of short tours on the Canal du Midi at Beziers and Homps, but have no experience. Even if you don't get on the canal, a visit is a must. The Ecluses de Fonserrane at Beziers are interesting to visit to watch boats going through the locks. I recommend you get Michelin Green Guide to Languedoc-Roussillon to see the wealth of choice of things to see and do in the area.

Thanks for your suggestions Tex. I'm getting together with my travel partners Saturday afternoon and I'm hoping to have a list of things to do there. Barcelona & Paris are easy. It's harder to find information about the Perpignan area. Keep the ideas coming...

My wife and I sat outside at a cafe in the town square and drank wonderful French coffee. Sometimes it is better to just sit and smell the roses or in our case the coffee.

I would highly recommend the Cathar castles. Especially Peyrepertuse.

You might just want to poke around Perpignan itself. it's a bit odd in that it's way the hell and gone from the basque provinces of either France or Spain, but has a large population of basques (and their kids and grandkids, by now) who hauled tail during the Spanish civil war. There's a few basque restaurants in the central area which are a real treat - - look for names like echeveria or getzpuchqpa or some other jumble of letters that will rip your tongue out. Everybody understands that cathar castles are a mytth right? The cathars built castra, fortified homesteads, on the sites where castles were built later. The cathars had neither the time, the manpower, nor the knowledge to build castles. The castles of the area post-date the cathars. Good.

"The castles of the area post-date the cathars." Not entirely correct. Peyrepertuse consists of two castles, the first built in the 11th century. Chateau de Montsegur was built in 1204.