Southern France advice

That's in an area that I like very much! You best bet to fly into will probably be Toulouse or Montpellier, depending on the connections that you can get. This area can be easily combinable with Provence and/or Paris, allowing you to also consider an open-jaw flight scenario. Or you can also easily give up your rental car in Perpignan and train to Barcelona at the end of your trip. A rental car will be a necessity, in order to make the most of this region. To find out more about things to do in the area, do a Google search for the "Cathar country", "Languedoc-Roussillon", "Aude tourism", "Canal du Midi", "Catalan coast of France" and "Risevaltes wine region". Carcassonne you are already aware of... When were you thinking of booking the week for? I would recommend early/mid-June.

We are actually going to go in October. Hoping the weather will still be nice. It sounds like renting a car is a necessity. We do want to stay a few extra days - are considering time in that area outside Lagrasse, or even going to Barcelona. If we were to do that, would it be possible to return the car and take the train? I'm not thrilled about driving in a big European city. Thanks!

Carole, Barcelona would be an excellent choice! You can easily pick up the car at Toulouse airport and drop it off at the Perpignan train station. That keeps the rental cost lower, since most car rental companies will not charge a drop-off fee for rental pick-up/drop-off points within France. The train into Barcelona is a breeze and you REALLY wouldn't want a car in the city anyways. BTW, you can make a stop in Figueres with the train, on the way to Barcelona (for just a few hours or an overnight). It's just over the border into Spain. The Museo-Teatro Dali is really a fun experience, if you appreciate Dali. The point-to-point train tickets are cheap for that run and don't need to be booked in advance at all.

@ Diane: If one wants to stop in Figueres "on the way" and see the Dali museum, what do you do with your luggage (backpack suitcases)? I'm told the train station doesn't have luggage storage, and the museum says no backpacks or rucksacks allowed. If you have an answer to this question, you will be my hero!

There is a consignment office right at the museum, where you check-in your backpacks and luggage. It's quite efficient and secure. I'd lock everything thing up and check-it all in while I visited the museum. I'd lunch in a nearby restaurant, then go back to get everything (at least 20 minutes before closing time). I'd taxi back and forth between the train station and the museum. Easy. Hope this info helps. :-)

Hi Carole.
While there, you might wanna check Albi, a little city 85 km northeast of Toulouse. I found it really charming. The Episcopal city, situated in the center of the actual city, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a beautiful gothic cathedral and there's also a museum about Toulouse-Lautrec, who was born nearby, at the Palais de la Berbie (formerly the Bishops' Palace) right across the cathedral.

Thanks so much for your help!

If you are returning your car to the Perpignan train station, look for the ramp that goes under the station. I had a heck of a time locating where to go and drove in circles for awhile. It's not very well marked. I recommend you take a GPS. Driving will be much less stressful if you don't have to worry about getting lost. In Carcassone we took a boat ride on the Canal du Midi. It was interesting going through the locks and now I really want to do a longer barge trip.

Thanks, Diane, for the Dali museum info. I went back and reread the info on their website: "Rucksacks, other shoulder bags and prams are not admitted" (that's probably where I stopped the first time). Then "Visitors to the Theatre-Museum are requested to deposit all bags, umbrellas, luggage and other large objects in the consignment office." I now take it to mean you can't take the big stuff into the exhibit area, but you can check it. Great!

Since you all have been so helpful....what would you recommend we do in Barcelona for 3 days? I think we'll fly into Toulouse and out of Barcelona. Thanks for any suggestions!

When we visited Languedoc-Roussillon a couple of years ago, we found that flights into Barcelona booking through Iberia were cheaper than the alternatives for getting to the region. DFW-Madrid service was on AA; Madrid-Barcelona was with Iberia. Same carriers returning. No problems with the flights. LR is beautiful and has a rich history going back before the Greeks and Romans occupied it. Get a couple of guidebooks to learn about it and decide what you wish to see. Michelin Green Guide for LR is the best imo. It has good descriptions of highlights and driving routes for sightseeing as well as restaurant recommendations. We had an oeonophile in our group, so we visited Minerve-about an hour north of Lagrasse-the village which gives the Minervois wine region its name. It was a Cathar stronghold thought impenetrable, but it fell. Historic in a stunningly beautiful setting, it is well worth a visit. For fun you can follow one of the signs to a winery for a degustation (tasting). The Cathar castle ruins, Collioure, the Canal Du Midi, and Carcassonne as you mentioned are some of the other places within easy drives from Lagrasse. After Lagrasse, I suggest you drive up to Provence, another area rich in history and beauty.

The trouble with Cathar castles is that they aren't. The Cathars were a religous sect that lived in little fortified, extended family homesteads. They had neither the knowledge nor the manpower nor the tools to build castles. Some of what are called Cathar castles were built later (after the Albigensian Crusade) on these sites. Others have no relationship at all to the Cathars - - the whole deal is myth and tourist hype - - which is a shame since some of the castles are pretty good. Specifically, what happened at Minerve, was that a bunch of Cathars holed up there in a pre-existing weaker castle (really just a walled village) after the Beziers massacre. These couple of hundred folks were burned as well.

Whatever their history, the castle ruins called "Cathar" exist and are well worth a visit. The foothills of the Pyrenees where they sit are beautiful. Peyrepertuse was our personal favorite. Americans don't know about the Cathars. They were a potent Christian religious force in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their beliefs appealed to a broad section of the population, including nobility. The Catholic Church was threatened by large defections to the Cathars. The Pope joined forces with the French king, who wanted the territory, to wipe them out. The "crusade" begun in 1208 killed an estimated 500,000 people. The city of Beziers was annihilated with 20,000 men, women and children killed. Minerve was and is more than a walled village as can be seen in photos on the internet.

Carole, post a separate question about Barcelona and you will get lots of suggestions! If you do fly in/out of Barcelona, as a suggestion mentioned above, do pick up the rental car in Perpignan then. I have found the car rental experience (and rates) better in France (except for Malaga). Especially since all of your driving will be in France anyways. I'm very glad that Minerve has been mentioned. There is an interesting small museum there, where the history surrounding the Albigensian crusade against the Cathars is rendered in detailed miniatures tableaux. Both Minerve and Montségur were the sites of terrible massacres of remaining refugees. The history of the region is quite fascinating and Tex has it right. Although what Ed said is true for castles like Peyrepertuse and Quéribus, they are still well worth the visit. The former border with Aragon used to run through the region, hence the many ruins of perched fortifications like these spectacular two. A quirky and scenic loop from Lagrasse would include: the castles of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus (within sight of each other), the D14 road that passes next to Mont Bugarach (21-12-12 apocalyptic nutcase central) and Rennes-le-Château (Google the story of the treasure still believed by many to be buried there). Also pleased to see that Collioure was specifically recommended, along the Catalan Coast of France. Finally, not far from Lagrasse, on the coast just south of Leucate, is a place called Grau de Leucate. This is were the shellfish comes in. You can walk into a few of the vendors and get fresh oysters to gulp on the spot! I hope this would still be the case in October.

Great suggestions. Thanks so much!