The beautiful castle in the heart of the Albères is said to be haunted by the ghost of a British spy – and is now free and open to visit.
A trompe l’oeil, or ‘trick of the eye’, is the art of illusion, a technique using realistic imagery to create an optical illusion of depth. Some of them are mind blowing.
Les Plus Beaux Villages des P-O. There are so many beautiful villages to visit in the P-O that it would be difficult to shortlist….but ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages’ de France has done just that.
Perched high on their unbelievable mountainous rocky outcrops, the castles of Queribus and Peyrepertuse dominate the beautiful rolling vineyards of Maury and Cucugnan.
Originally set up by the Rois de Majorque as a defence system to protect the Roussillon from invaders, the tours de signaux (signal towers) allowed information to be passed quickly around the region, using fire and smoke signals.
Wonderful walk with views of Le Massif de Canigou and its summit and very interesting industrial remains at Les Mines de Salver, near Taurinya.
With quaint, cobbled streets, pretty squares, lively shops, restaurants, and bars, and art and music museums, there is certainly enough temptation to hang around the town, but there is plenty going on around and about too.
Situated in the north of the Corbieres, between Narbonne and Carcassone, the medieval village of Lagrasse offers a feast for the eyes and is full of historical and cultural interest.
The Hermitage Saint Antoine with its Cave Chapel is well worth a visit, its first written records dating from the XV century, and continuing till the last hermit/priest, Père Marie, died of hunger and cold in 1870.
The track you want is the gated one with the small signpost “chemin d’enfer” (gate to Hell) hammered onto a tree.