LaFrance - Midi Pyrenees
Ariege
Tourist Information
| Introduction & History |
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What to do |
| Map & Getting there | Wild life/plants | |
| Where to go/see | Further information |
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The Ariège is a department in the central Pyrenees just north of the tiny country of Andorra and the Spanish border, located within the region of the Midi-Pyrénées. It enjoys many natural sites, cultural and historic places of importance. The mountains, prehistoric caves, cathar castles and churches, medieval villages and its varied landscape will inspire you!
The Ariège marks the point where the central Pyrenees begin to assume a more Mediterranean air. The change is noticeable as soon as you cross the border from the Comminges, in the Hautes-Pyrénées département, to the Couserans district of western Ariège. Here the air dries out and the soft grass gives way to short, tufted tussocks. This is a region that offers great variety of landscape within a comparatively small area, and what is more, the scenery changes enormously according to the time of year. Trout streams still course through the valleys, but move on to the upper slopes in summer and the land becomes bleak, rocky and uncomfortably hot. In winter the snow comes early and lies late and many of the villages are ski centres. Even the geology is varied, a mixture of granite in the Barguillère and limestone in the valley south of Foix. Until Napoleon decreed that all départements created since the Revolution should, where possible, bear the name of the main local river, Ariège was known as the country of Foix, home to an ancient line of warlike nobles. Hemmed in by Andorra to the south and the high plateau of the Cerdagne to the east, looking out over the Toulouse plateau to the north, modern Ariège is a shadow of its former self, its villages abandoned and roads deserted. The Couserans region in particular, has suffered severely from emigration; its largest town, St-Girons, has a population of only 7,000 - less than half the 1850 figure. Wildlife, however, has thrived in direct proportion to the human exodus; as you rove about the hills above St-Girons you will see marmots, mountain goats and large numbers of rabbits, prey for the ever-watchful eagles, buzzards and other raptors. Lying southwest of St-Girons, East of Mont Vallier, the highest peak (2,838 metres/9,314 feet), several former mule trails make excellent walking tracks up to the frontier, taking you into some of the emptiest country of the Ariège.
East of a line between Foix and Tarascon-sur-Ariège, the country is green, open and studded with half-deserted villages. Here walkers and backpackers can explore the fascinating places such as famous Montaillou and was once inhabited by the heretical Cathars. Other notable features of the Ariège include the Pic de St-Barthélemy (2,348 metres/7,706 feet) in the Monts d'Olmes. The hills west and south of Ax-les-Thermes is an area virtually without roads now that the villagers' homes have been abandoned and the byways which lead into the hills have crumbled into tracks. East of Ax the country is open, but the hills are steep, ideal for skiing in winter and wonderful for ridge-walking in summer.
Before you go Getting there For St. Girons
visit
http://www.ville-st-girons.fr/ Prehistoric Caves While the Dordogne region is held to be the king of the prehistoric caves, the extent of Europe's prehistoric cave culture extends from there south through the Pyrenees into Northern Spain and into Portugal. Ariège, in fact, has the most prehistoric caves of any department in France. The Ariège has
always served as a refuge: The area is one of the cradles of the humanity and Niaux's cave invites you in a moving journey into the past to find the life, the tracks and the paintings of our ancestors of 13000 years ago. Niaux is one of the rare decorated caves still opened to the public.
La Grotte de Niaux is an exceptional example of a painted prehistoric cave in that the main gallery (the salon noir) is a long but interesting walk from the cave's mouth. After a dim walk in the silent, womb-like stillness, you'll break into a large naturally domed space to marvel at the paintings above. There are extraordinary representations of horses and bison here. Visit http://www.camping-arize.com/cave.htm for more excellent pictures. To researchers, the exceptional size of the Niaux gallery indicates that many people could be assembled in this one sacred space. The animals are painted in black, all of the same kind of paint--no doubt created within a relatively brief span of time (somewhere between 12,000 and 9,000 BC). And there is evidence that scaffolding was used to the get paintings high up on the dome. Tarascon’s Prehistoric Art Park: Here you'll find out how water creates voids in limestone to create caves, how the prehistoric cave culture lived and survived, how their tools were made, and how the pictures were created and what experts think they mean. It's quite a complete experience. In addition, pleasant walking trails are found throughout the park, often leading to signboards explaining the importance of some aspect of the landscape or to areas were activities like atalatl and spear-throwing are demonstrated (and kids are allowed to try their luck!). The Prehistoric Art Park museum contains replicas and photos of drawings and paintings found in other caves, many of which are no longer open to the public. How to visit the Cave and the Park In summer there is a single tour of the Cave in English around 1 pm. You'll need a reservation, but there are often places available if you drive in earlier in the day and reserve. (You'll have to take a guided tour; they don't just let you wander around by yourself.) If you can get on the English tour, then I suggest visiting the cave first. If not, go to the Park to get some background in English before seeing the cave with a French guide (the audio tour is a great introduction and quite well done--you just walk up to any exhibit you're interested in and the tape goes to the right place for an explanation). Your ticket to the cave includes a discount to the park. Cathar Castles
Visit http://www.globalfest.com/tour_en/tour_en_Ariege.htm and especially http://www.eurosnaps.com/queribus.htm for excellent photographs and brief descriptions Sport
Canyoning is a good option for climbers in the heat of the summer Mountain biking is another major pursuit for all seasons. Snow sports in the winter are only minutes away from most prominent towns. River sports, caving, hill walking, paragliding, horse riding and many more on offer in the Ariege. Visit http://www.canoe-france.com/ariege/indexa.html and http://www.climbariege.co.uk/ for more details on sporting activities.
The main tourist department site at http://www.ariege.com/mt-vallier/ is excellent and Graham Hart gives a monthly report on all the fauna and flora at http://www.ariege.com/wildlife-report/ Beautiful butterflies abound in Ariege. An excellent site is http://members.aol.com/pappyren/Sites.htm where full descriptions and details of where species can be found are given. Families can go to Amaranthe to visit butterfly world.
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The rushing River
Ariège gives its name to this sparsely populated département.
Picturesque scenery can also be found in the small valleys between
Foix and Andorra. The lush valley of the Vicdessos lies beneath a
long ridge running east from the Pic des Trois Seigneurs, which
shelters it from the north and allows it a mild micro-climate. The
valley runs up through mainly empty country to the bare peaks and
ridges along the Franco-Spanish-Andorran frontier. The area has no
towns, few villages and very few hamlets. This is hardly surprising
as there are no roads, only a few tracks to take walkers and campers
deeper into the hills. The great joy of this wild, barren borderland
is its large number of lakes, many created by glaciation and feeding
mountain streams full of rainbow trout and char.
La Grotte de
Niaux - The Prehistoric Painted Cave.
The sect, whose
believers were also known as Albigensians, viewed the world as the
creation of the Devil and set about purifying themselves without the
intercession of the Church. An anti-Cathar crusade in the early 13th
century dealt cruelly and mercilessly with this proto-Reformation,
which at one point had converted much of south-west France. Many of
the Cathars withdrew to remote hilltop castles, such as Montségur,
Puivert and Puilaurens: when finally captured, they were burned at
the stake and their last outposts razed to the ground. Nature has
begun to reclaim these former citadels, and ravens, choughs and
crows nest among the ruins.
There are many
sports which can be pursued in the Ariege.
Every form of
wildlife to delight can be found in Ariege; from lolloping rabbits
to donkeys, wild boar, marmots, squirrels and goats. While soaring
high in the sky above are buzzards, raptors and the occasional
gentle golden oriel. For those wanting a wilder species check out