Friday 2nd October 2015 – Mazeres-sur-Salat, France

We drove into Foix to take a look the town and found that it was market day, making parking a nightmare especially as cars had parked in the designated motorhome car park. The market was very good and very busy but we resisted the temptation to spend hours browsing. We had a map of Foix from the campsite and found boards showing a Mediaeval Foix Trail so we decided to follow it. I must say that there isn’t a lot of Mediaeval Foix left – there was much more in Montbrun Bocage and it much more interesting. However, the highlight of the town is the imposing Foix Castle and we decided to visit it in the afternoon as the morning visiting time was near its end and we didn’t want to rush it. We had lunch in a restaurant in one of the few pretty Mediaeval buildings – amazing value at €14.50 (£11) for three courses including a quarter litre of wine. However, the service was extremely slow and the meal took one and a half hours.

The castle was very interesting with its three towers, two of which it is possible to climb and the views over the Pyrenees were tremendous.

We wanted to take a closer look at the Pyrenees so we plotted a route into the mountains and then down to St. Girons. The first road was designated a ‘Green Route’ and it was green and pretty but there were few views through the solid pine forest. At the top we were in low cloud but once we started descending on narrow roads, the views were much better.

We intended to stay in an aire in St. Girons but found that it had been, officially, converted to a large gypsy site. This was a blessing in disguise as we went on to Mazeres-sur-Salat where we stayed in a lovely aire next to the wide river Salat with a huge weir and fish ladder. Water was flowing over the weir when we arrived but half an hour later it stopped and it continued to start and stop during the evening. We realised that a hydroelectric scheme further up the river was regulating the flow depending upon the demand for electricity.

Photos: The castle dominates the town of Foix; The Foix restaurant where we had lunch, with Medieaval service; Two towers of the castle taken from the third; There were a number of these small, pretty cows as we crossed the pass at the Col de Peguere (1375m); The view of the river Salat from our pitch in the Mazeres aire.