France Guide
The Pyrenees
Basque-speaking, wet and green in the west; craggy, snowy, Gascon-influenced in the middle; dry, Mediterranean and Catalan-speaking in the east – the Pyrenees are physically beautiful, culturally varied and less developed than the Alps. The whole range is marvellous walkers' country, especially the central region around the Parc National des Pyrénées, with its 3000-metre-high peaks, streams, forests and wildlife.
As for the more conventional tourist attractions, the Côte Basque is lovely, sandy but very popular, suffering from seaside sprawl and a surfeit of caravan-colonized campsites. Finally, the sun-drenched foothills just to the northwest harbour the famous Cathar castles, legacies of the once-independent and ever-rebellious inhabitants of southwestern Languedoc.
Highlights
1 Surfing the Côte Basque Catch a wave at Biarritz, Europe's top destination for both boogie-boarders and classic surfers.
2 Cauterets Several lake-spangled valleys above this agreeable spa offer superb trekking, whether modest day-loops or more ambitious multi-day traverses.
3 The Cirque de Gavarnie A vast alpine amphitheatre with wind-blown cascades and traces of glacier.
4 Niaux cave The upper Ariège valley hosts a cluster of prehistoric caves painted by Cro-Magnon humans over 10,000 years ago; Niaux contains the best preserved and most vivid of these images.
5 L'Abbaye de St-Hilaire, Aude Its carved sarcophagus of St-Sernin is considered among the masterworks of the mysterious twelth-century Maître de Cabestany.
6 Cathar castles The imposing castles of the upper Aude and Corbières region testify to southwestern Languedoc's era of independence.
7 Musée d'Art Moderne, Ceret An astonishing collection of paintings from the prime movers of the early twentieth-century avant garde.
8 Petit Train Jaune Rumble up the dramatic Têt valley of Roussillon in an open-car, narrow-gauge train.