| Weekend on the farm |
The Savignol family offer bed and breakfast on their farm Haras Picard du Sant where they raise Mérens horses. On the first weekend of every month between February and November you can participate in their farm life: help brand the horses or accompany the herd as it's driven to the summer mountain pastures, watch foals being born, or help prepare foie gras, press cider or distill eau de vie.
On the farm Le Paquetayre you can visit the flock of organically raised sheep or watch Michel and Michèle transform medicial plants into tinctures and salves. (They offer rent gîtes and offer bed and breakfast.)
Wolfgang and Doris Bendick make cheese and honey on their farm Le Pourtérés and rent 3 gîtes.
Marco and Nicole raise Angora goats and sell mohair blankets, scarves, socks, etc. knitted from the wool. You can watch Marco shear the goats in April and August. They rent a gîte on their farm located near the Mas d'Azil.
Dominique and Philippe Lacube raise Gascony cows and ducks for foie gras. Between June and October Philippe leads visitors on walks up to the mountain pastures to see the herd, or to the barn where the cows live in winter. They rent gîtes and chalets on their farm near Tarascon.
At their splendidly isolated bed and breakfast, the ferme du Mont Béas, Gisèle and Jean-Pierre grow vegetables and raise horses, and Gisèle can take you horseriding (beginners welcome).
Philippe and Céline have a little farm at 850 m altitude in the high Couserans with a family of pigs, chickens, a horse, a donkey, chickens, cats and dogs. They offer a restored barn as a holiday gîte. |
| Horticultural weekends |
| You can buy rose bushes, ornamental shrubs and fruit trees at Claudine and Charles Daffis' nursery-garden-campground in the Bellongue valley. Nurseryman Denis Leblon's greenhouse is on the edge of the village of Massat, going toward the Col de Port. He and his wife, Béatrice, offer bed and breakfast at their home above the village. As you would expect, their garden is gorgeous. |
| Horseriding weekends |
Dominique Porato leads 2 and 3 day (or longer) treks on horseback into the mountains. See his calendar for weekends from April through October.
The Ecuries du Biros offer horseriding treks near the Spanish border on Mérens and Castillonais horses. They can arrange accommodations nearby.
The ferme du Mont Béas offers bed and breakfast accommodations on their very isolated farm and guided horseriding outings on Mérens and Castillonais horses. |
| Cave visits |
Ariège has the most prehistoric caves of any department in France, including the famous Niaux cave with its Magdalenian era wall drawings.
Suggested accommodations:
Hostellerie de la Poste, a large comfortable hotel in the centre of Tarascon.
Domaine Fournié, b&b with indoor pool near entrance to the Prehistoric Art Park
Relais Alaric, motel-restaurant near entrance to Prehistoric Art Park |
| Fishing holidays |
| You can fish right on site at these bed and breakfasts because a river or stream runs right through the property : Moulin de Lirbat in Massat, Ferme du Mont Béas in Ercé, Chambres de l'Arget near Foix. |
| Farmers and crafts markets |
| The Saturday morning farmers' market in St Girons is one of the best in Ariège. Lots of locally grown produce and "produits du terroir". Wood turners, basket weavers, jewelry makers and other craftspeople sell their work there as well. Buy cheese, bread and dried sausage, or a roast chicken, and go for a picnic in the mountains. Or indulge in a gastronomic meal at the Hôtel-restaurant La Clairière and visit historic St Lizier afterwards. |
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Useful phone numbers
Recorded 7-day weather forecast for the Ariège Pyrenees:
08 92 68 02 09 (2.23 F per minute--touch *1 immediately to get forecast for whole dept., *2 for just the mountains)
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Tourist offices:
St Girons/ Couserans
05 61 96 26 60
Le Séronais
05 61 64 53 53
Foix
05 61 65 12 12
Tarascon
05 61 05 94 94
Vallees d'Ax
05 61 64 60 60
Vallées d'Ax:
05 61 64 60 60
Mirepoix:
05 61 68 83 76 |
| Our schedule of weekly markets and fairs will help you organise your week-end outings to sample local flavours. |
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