Naturellement Français French courses for adults in the South of France

Excursions to Carcassonne and the Black Mountain

From the Ramparts of the Cité to the Black Mountain

The medieval Cité of Carcassonne is one of the emblematic sites of the Aude, but the Carcassonne area doesn’t end there. Landscapes of the Black Mountain, Cathar castles, an underground chasm: a land of discoveries that we explore with you, in French.

Carved bust of Dame Carcas wearing a tall headdress, on a wooden gable in the medieval Cité of Carcassonne

The Cité of Carcassonne

A UNESCO World Heritage fortified city, the Cité of Carcassonne is worth seeing both up close and from afar. We visit the basilica, the Count’s Castle and the ramparts, then step back on foot, among vines and pines, to take them in at a single glance. Its history of conquests and Catharism gives us plenty to talk about, and to ask questions about, in French.

Two visitors walk along a rampart path in the Cité of Carcassonne, at the foot of a crenellated stone tower
Château comtal in Carcassonne: slate-roofed towers, wooden hoardings and a stone bridge over the grassy moat
Cobbled square in the Cité of Carcassonne: fountain, stone house with a tiled arch and red-tinged Virginia creeper on a façade
Cobbled ramp leading to a fortified gate of the Cité of Carcassonne under a blue sky, with towers and ramparts behind
Window with weathered wooden shutters, a climbing rose with salmon-pink flowers and a marble bench in a street of Caunes-Minervois

In the Black Mountain

The Black Mountain offers many possibilities, here are a few examples: the pleasure of strolling and chatting in the open countryside; a visit to the village of Caunes-Minervois, to talk about, among other things, the history of marble, a symbol of French luxury; the discovery of the Lastours castles, to understand Cathar history; the exploration of the Cabrespine chasm, a veritable underground cathedral, to share our impressions.

Ruined tower of a Lastours castle on its rocky ridge, with a stone stairway, cypresses and wooded valleys of the Black Mountain
Caunes-Minervois abbey: Romanesque apse and bell tower, red Virginia creeper and a stone stairway in an autumn garden
Marble quarry at Caunes-Minervois: high walls of pink marble veined with red, topped with pine trees under a blue sky
The Lastours castles on their rocky spur, among cypresses and wooded slopes, under a blue sky