Discover the region

Cazères is a small town along the Garonne river, 1 1/2 km from Palaminy. Available : many shops (e.g. delicatessen, bakeries – ah ! The famous croissant ! -, pastry shops, fresh fruit and vegetable shops…) and services (banks , hairdressers, doctors, etc.). The XIV century church (currently being restored) stands in the old city center.

Famous for its earthenware artists , many working exactly in the style and manner of the eighteenth century . Roman remains can be seen inside the church . Nearby, the Chiragan marbles have been found.

A picturesque town , with a church whichwas once a cathedral ; and a fifteenth c. bridgewhose reflection is mirrored in a curve of the Arize river.

Photo by www.montbrun-bocage.com

This small village church is remarquable for its late middle-age wall paintings, and for its picturesque steeple. A feudal castle overlooks the ancient houses of the village.

Aurignacian period (30 000 to 20 000 B.C.) is named after this town where prehistoric remains were found nearby. A dungeon as well as a church tower dominate the hilltop city, where many old houses have been restored.

Photo by Mes voyages en France

The place of a Templars commandership , this village has a remarquable church with romanesque sculptures and wall paintings.

From the thirteenth century to 1789 Alan was the winter residence of the bishops of Comminges. Alan has an interesting church facing the former bishop’s residence. A gate leads to a tower adorned in late gothic style, with the famous “vache d’Alan” , a sculpture the inhabitants of Alan protected from a project of dismantlment and foreign acquisition.

The famous “châteaux cathares”, sites of the troubled fight of the barons from the north of France against the local followers of the “cathar” dualist religion, are to be reached from Palaminy through beautiful and varied landscapes. Best known of all, the castle of Montségur appears atop a limestone peak overseeing the hills around Lavelanet, ( near Foix ) . It witnessed the last battles of the “Albigesian Crusades” (ca 1209 – 1244 AD). Puivert castle is spectacular (24 km further). A little further is Rennes-le-Château, now a pilgrimage for “The Da Vinci Code” fans. One of the best preserved feudal castles around is the dungeon of Arques.

Photo By Johan Simon

Two summits of the Pyrénées can be seen from Palaminy : the “Pic de Mont Valier” (2838 meters), and the “Pic du Midi de Bigorre” (2 876 meters). Driving upstream along the Garonne valley, the Spanish border and the “Val d’Aran” are easily reached. This Spanish valley, on the “French side” of the Pyrénées, with tiny villages scattered in the mountain and many romanesque churches is worth visiting. Bagnères-de-Luchon, a renowned spa (with hot swimming-pool, vaporarium caves…), is also a starting point for sightseeing trips or walks (Venasque pass, Cascade d’Enfer…).
Lourdes is 70 minutes away from Palaminy. Close by Gavarnie offers either mule ride or walk to the “Cirque de Gavarnie”, a five star landscape with the highest water falls in Europe.

Want to travel back in time ? Walking along the walls of the “cité” is unforgettable. The spectacular “Cité de Carcassonne”, fortified during the Roman times and the Middle Ages, is only one hour and 15 minutes drive from Palaminy. The Medieval Citadel is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
On your way is the 18th century old Canal du Midi, a link between Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.