Travelling with MM: Back roads to La Salvetat

30 May 2016

Back roads to La Salvetat

Travelled : 119km
Stay:La Salvetat sur Agout - free parking, no services. N43.60083 E2.70122
Visited: Caunes Minervois, St. Pons de Thomieres

After leaving Limoux we circled around Carcassonne (visited in 2013) and drove along the D620 to Caunes Minervois.

Beautiful fields of poppies.

There are heaps of places to visit around here but you can only decided to take one road. Our ultimate destination is North to Clermont Ferrari by Thursday. We parked in the bus parking area in Caunes Minervois, got a map from the tourist office and wandered through this medieval village with its narrow, twisting streets. There were red/pink marble (from the nearby quarry) sculptures scattered around with the centre being the great 8th century abbey.

The Abbey.

Medieval buildings now a hotel.

Today's door knocker..

Sculptures from the local marble.

View of the town

Our next stop was the lookout at the Roc Suzadou on the way to St.Pons de Thomieres. We then walked around this village, again with an ancient history based on the Abbey. We visited the cathedral with its rare enclosed choir.

Of course the local marble was well used everywhere, even in the curbs!

The bridge joining the 2 towns...back in the day.

There were lots of buildings under disrepair.

View of the town from the tower.

The source of the Jaur River.

We walked up to the old defense tower and also found the Source of the Jaur River from one of the largest underground lakes in Europe. From here we took the D907 over a couple of cols to La Salvetat sur Agout. We arrived in the rain but it soon cleared up and after a rest we went off for an explore. Since the 12th century the village was built on a rock to prevent attacks. Near by there is a lake popular for water sports and the area is also well known for its naturally carbonated mineral water. Just a small note on the 'fuel crisis'...It doesn't appear an issue here in the South except for the prices being overly high as you get closer to a major town. We are filling up every 150km or so keeping topped up just in case we do encounter issues as we travel northwards.