Pyrenees

The department of Pyrenees Orientales conceals many treasures: varied landscapes of rich beauty, an important architectural heritage, and traditions and a culture that have lasted for centuries.

Five of the villages within the Pyrenees Orientales have been granted the classification of "Most beautiful villages of France" (Have, Evol, Mosset, Castelnou and Villefranche-of-Conflent).

Many artists, in particular painters, were seduced by the particular luminosity and colors which bathe the Pyrenees. Matisse and Derain, for example elected residence in Collioure in 1905.

And don't forget the Pyrenees that most of us know. The Pyrenees in winter. With resorts such as Font-Romeu, Cambre D'Aze, Puigmal 2600, Cambre d'Aze, Pyrenees 2000, Porte Puymorens, Les Angles, Formigueres and Puyvalador, skiers and boarders alike are well catered for. For more information on altitude and length of pistes, click here.

The Pyrenees Orientales is in the Languedoc-Roussillon area in south west France which borders Spain and the Mediterranean. Its position means it has a temperate climate, with very mild winters and hot dry summers with temperatures reaching between 85º and 95º between July and September.

The hot, dry wind from the north offers relief during the hottest months but can be as strong and parching as the Mistral of Provence.

Set in spectacular countryside with the Mediterranean to the east, Catalonia to the south and Andorra to the west, the Pyrenees Orientales borders are formed by mountain peaks.

Cape Cerbera is to the south east where you will find deep and sheltered bays with flat sandy beaches which are a sunbather’s paradise. Many of the beaches are separated from the sea by belts of sand forming lagoons. The St Nazaire lagoon extends over 2,780 acres, and on the borders of Aude is the Leucate which is over 19,300 acres.

The Pyrenees Orientales is a wonderful place to spend a holiday with its warm seas, sandy beaches and fresh mountain air. Carlitte Peak is the highest mountain but Mont Canigou is the most remarkable as it stands out above the plain showing very clearly the differing vegetation zones of juniper and orange groves, oleander, aloe, pomegranate, olive vines growing to over 600 metres, huge chestnut, pine and birch trees and rhododendrons over 300 metres high.

As this is such a lush region it comes as no surprise that agriculture features heavily with wine and liqueur wines such as Rivesaltes and Banyuls being the biggest boost to the economy of the area. Vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes and peas flourish in the irrigated lowlands, while fruit including peaches, apricots, plums, pears, quinces, pomegranates, almonds, apples, cherries, walnuts and chestnuts are grown abundantly in the river valleys. The cuisine in the Pyrenees Orientales is therefore prepared with only the freshest produce and is a real gourmet’s delight.

If you want total rest and relaxation then you have an amazing choice of baths and springs. Amlie-les-Bains offers chalybeate or sulphurous hot springs. In the arrondissement of Cret is La-Preste-les-Bains with hot sulphurous springs and Le Boulou which is the Vichy of the Pyrenees. In Molitg, Vernet and Thus the alkaline springs reach a temperature of 172ª F. The baths of Les Escaldas, near Montlouis, are hot, sulphurous and alkaline.

The Pyrenees Orientales offers a multitude of attractions, but just a few of the towns worth visiting are the capital and fortress of Aigues Morte   Banyuls Sur Mer   Canet en Roussillon   Elne   Narbonne   Perpignan   Port Vendres   Prades