Visiting Midi-Pyrenees Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi at the Hôtel du Bosc. The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, housed in the former 13th-century Bishops’ Palace, exhibits more than 1,000 of his paintings, posters, drawings, and lithographs. The artist drew inspiration for his most famous works from the colourful characters of the Bohemian quartier, Montmartre’s cabarets, cafés, and dance halls in his celebrated works portraying the Moulin Rouge, Le Chat Noir, and Jane Avril.
The castle at Rocamadour towers 420 feet above the Alzou River, dominating the village’s medley of old houses, steep streets, ancient churches, and tiny chapels terraced into a sheer cliff.
St-Cirq-Lapopie, an intact 15th-century village rivals Rocamadour, renovated by and home to artists and artisans. Stone houses topped with steep brown-tiled roofs and pierced with mullioned windows press up against narrow streets and the town’s fine church. The village overlooks the river Lot meandering across dappled fields and forests of emerald green.
Lourdes has been a place of pilgrimage as important to the Catholics as Mecca is to the Muslims, and draws some 5 million visitors each year. You have to fight your way past the souvenir shops to get to the Grotte de Massabielle - site of the apparitions. | Midi Pyrenees Outdoor Sports Outdoor activities and sports are tremendously popular in this region. As you move deeper into the mountains, the terrain rises ever more steeply, and the landscape, bright colours set against a deep blue sky becomes ever more imposing.
Summer is the season for walking, camping, fishing and climbing. Backpacking and mountain biking are also popular pursuits. Hiking trails abound, from the intimidating Atlantic to Mediterranean pathway to the easier trails of the Pyrénées National Park. Canyoning, paragliding and rock climbing are readily available for the adventurous.
The park itself is a beautiful attraction, with stunning views, lakes, mountain rivers and animals in the wild. The Pic du Midi is a popular outing, and you can even get to Spain in Gavernie.
Winter lures the cross-country and alpine skiers, as well as the snowboarders. Tourmalet (also known as Barèges - La Mongie) is large and suitable for both the beginner and the very experienced skiers. The slopes are varied, with off-piste skiing, forest slopes, and slopes through moon like mountain areas. Experienced off-piste skiers can take a guide and ski off the Pic du Midi. Because of snow making, the season is long, and the weather is often ideal. |
 Touring Midi-PyreneesThe Basque agricultural and peasant influence is very strong here. The region’s mainstay has been its agriculture until the expansion of tourism. The rich arable land produces a wide variety of crops, and fruit trees add color to the landscape as well as apples, pears, plums and peaches.
This is a great place to eat out. Relais-Châteaux, auberges rurales and country inns and farmhouses, serve some of the most memorable and inexpensive meals in France.
Local produce is excellent, and there are several special items that deserve particular mention: Roquefort cheese, made only in the Aveyron area of Midi-Pyrénées, comes from sheep’s milk and aged in limestone caverns where it develops its blue-veined interior, Cassoulet, a satisfying meat and white bean stew, Foie gras is goose or duck liver from Gascony and is unmatched in its extraordinarily rich flavour, served warm with vinaigrette, Cahors red wines, full-bodied and flavourful and are to be enjoyed with the region’s rich foods, and finally Armagnac, the oldest brandy in France, dating back to the fifteenth century.
Now that you have begun the journey of finding your chalet in Midi-Pyrenees, our Midi-Pyrenees Tourist Information Guide would like to remind you of a few key regional favourites that will make your holiday in Midi-Pyrenees absolutely spectacular! Get your head in the clouds at a Pyrenees ski resort, and explore the unbelievable Rocamadour. In the colder months it is all about Tourmalet skiing, and as it warms up hiking in the Pyrenees is great fun. For a little art education and window into the artisan's life, take in the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. Finally, a journey (no matter your religious beliefs) to the Grotto de Massabielle in Lourdes is worth it simply to appreciate architecture. Enjoy your holiday and safe travels! |
