Destinations

The Return of France's One-time Backwater | Ben Mallalieu | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse

Centre of European culture many centuries ago, and a French backwater more recently, Languedoc is once again thriving, with the 'Seattle of France' - Toulouse - at its capital and a colourful local history

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Painting Ceret | Norman Miller | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Ceret

Hunkered down amid trees and low-lying hills in the shadows of the Pyrenean peaks that divide France from Spain, Ceret is a Catalan town as much as a French one

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Lourdes | Sarah Anderson | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Lourdes

Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary appeared to the poor peasant girl St. Bernadette eighteen times in 1858, now attracts five million pilgrims every year from all over the world.

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Prophets, Pilgrims, and Profits | Campbell Jefferys | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Lourdes

The city is beautifully located in the heart of the Pyrenees, with jagged peaks visible from almost any part of town. The old centre is a delight to walk around; the streets are narrow and winding, the way they should be in mountian villages.

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La Grotte de Niaux | James Henderson | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Niaux

It was a reassuring surprise to see evidence of tourism nearly 400 years old - I always imagined that being a tourist was a peculiarly 20th century activity, born of an idle curiosity and too much leisure

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Hidden Pyrenean Pleasures | Alf Alderson | France, Midi-Pyrenees, Cauterets

Although less craggy and somewhat lower than the Alps, the Pyrenees provide fine cross-country skiing and the chance to get away from the crowded pistes

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