La Maison du Valier

Gîte-auberge La Maison du Valier

Just beyond the end of the long country lane leading into the Riberot valley lies the new gîte d’étape, La Maison du Valier. In mid June, the dominant sound was still snow fed streams rushing over boulders on their way to join the Lez. Butterflies – small whites, a Brimstone and a Common Blue –flitted over grassy meadows in the late afternoon sunshine. By the water a few Early Purple Orchids were dying back with the colour continued by stands of Aqua Legia. Elsewhere the yellow crosses of Rock Roses were widespread. A place to relax and enjoy before the hike up Mont Valier.

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Le domaine des chèvres / The goats’ domain

Photos: Madeleine Mathias

Du château du Mirabat, il ne reste que de ruines, il est devenu un lieu de repos privilégié des chèvres. De là haut, elles dominent les vallées du Salat, du Garbet et de l’Alet avec un panorama à 360 ° et une vue magnifique sur le Mont Valier (2 838m).
Ce château datant du 12 ème siècle a probablement été une forteresse de guet pour surveiller les frontières. Le Mirabat veut dire en occitan : « regarder en bas ».
Le Mirabat est également le but d’une très belle randonnée de 520 m de dénivelé. Il faut compter 3 heures aller/retour.
Depuis Les Gîtes d’Anilac, vous pourrez le voir au loin sur son piton calcaire.

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Only ruins remain of the château of Mirabat in the Couserans, which has become the domain of goats. From there one has a 360° view of the Salat, Garbet and Alet river valleys, dominated by the emblematic Mont Valier (2,838m).

This château dates from the 12th century probably was a lookout fortress for surveying the border. Le Mirabat means “Look down” in Occitan.

Le Mirabat is also the ending point of a very lovely walk starting from just above Oust, about 3 hours there and back, through woods and shaded tracks — very pleasant on a hot day.

From the gîtes of Anilac you can see it in the distance, perched on its rocky peak.

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Alternative VTT / Extreme Mountain Biking

Lors d’une balade dans la forêt au dessus du col d’Ayens dans le Couserans nous avons découvert un parcours VTT artisanal au milieu des fougères et des ronces (!). On s’est demandé si l’initiateur était l’hôpital du Couserans (parfois menacé de fermeture). Mais non, c’est le projet de l’association « Alternative VTT » qui a pour but de développer le VTT de descente en Ariège. Sur son site on peut regarder une vidéo des riders en train de dévaler la pente. Vous pouvez voir sa situation exacte sur une carte Google ici. Pour plus d’infos sur le cyclisme/VTT en Ariège, voir notre page sur ariege.com

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While on a walk in the woods above the col d’Ayens in the Couserans we discovered a homemade mountain biking course in the middle of ferns and brambles (!). Looking at it, we wondered if it had been sponsored by the local hospital, which is regularly threatened with closure. It turned out to be the project of an association of extreme mountain biking enthusiasts called “Alternative VTT”. On their site you can watch a video of riders zooming along the tracks and flying through the air. You can see the exact location of the course on this Google map. For other information about cycling in Ariège, see our page on ariege.com.

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Un toit à l’ancienne / A new old roof

 

En 2006, Lee a quitté sa vie d’architecte pour acheter une petite maison en pierre en Ariège, un peu de terrain et plus tard une grange en ruine dans le but de vivre le plus possible en autarcie. Après avoir nettoyé son terrain à la faux, il y élève maintenant des cochons et des poulets et y tient un potager. La touche finale pour sa maison était de remplacer la toiture anciennement couverte en plaques de fibro-ciment contenant de l’amiante  par de la chaume. Pour les toitures en chaume du Couserans on utilisait dans le temps de la paille de blé ou de seigle produite localement  mais la durée de vie n’était que d’une quinzaine d’années avant de devoir y remettre une couche. De nos jours on préfère le roseau qui lui a une durée de vie de 40 à 50 ans avec un peu d’entretien.
Les ouvriers qui ont couvert le toit de Lee étaient des Polonais travaillant pour une société anglaise utilisant du roseau venant de Chine transporté par bateau par une compagnie Neerlandaise et véhiculé par camion par un transporteur Tchèque.
Un travail international pour finir dans notre petit coin de France…

In 2006 Lee left his life as a high-flying British Architect to buy a tiny stone house some land and later a ruined barn in the Ariège, with the aim to be as self-sufficient as possible. After clearing the abandoned fields with a scythe, he now raises pigs and chickens and tends a vegetable garden. The final step in his house renovation was to replace the old asbestos sheeted roof with thatch. In the past, thatch in this area was made of rye or wheat stalks and generally lasted about 15 years before it had to be replaced or another layer added. Now water reed is preferred because it lasts up to 40 or 50 years, with a bit of maintenance. The thatchers who covered Lee’s roof were Poles working for an English company using reed from China that was shipped to a distributor in Holland and trucked to France by a Czech haulage company. Truly an international effort! 

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Roquefort les cascades

Les cascades se trouvent à 40 minutes de marche de nos chambres d’hôtes (La Maison de Roquefort) sur un chemin balisé pour randonneur qui passe devant notre maison ou à 4 minutes en voiture.
Les chutes sont particulièrement spectaculaires durant et après une pluie abondante , mais même en été quand il n’y a plus qu’un filet d’eau , l’endroit vaut le détour pour ses formations calcaires qui s’y sont déposées depuis des centaines d’années.
Il y a régulièrement des visiteurs durant les mois d’été, on y voit souvent 4 à 5 voitures garées au pied des chutes.
Le lieu a été conservé le plus nature possible, il n’y a ni café, boutique ou bar dans le village ou sur le parking .
Il y a exactement 4 chutes et c’est la troisième la plus impréssionante : une falaise surplombante crée de nombreuses petites chutes individuelles et sous certaines ont peut même y marcher.
L’eau des cascades est dit-on une très bonne eau de source, alors n’oubliez pas d’amener une bouteille vide pour la remplir à la fontaine du village.
Vous pouvez la visiter à n’importe quel moment de l’année, mais si vous le pouvez choisissez le lendemain d’une bonne journée de pluie.

— Kay et Mike Isaacs

The cascades are 40 mins walk from our bed and breakfast (Maison de Roquefort) (4 mins by car) along a waymarked walkers route which passes by our house.

During and after heavy rainfall the falls are particularly spectacular, though the limestones deposits that have formed over hundreds of years are quite a sight, even in the summer when the water is just a trickle.

There are regular visitors in the summer months - typically 4 or 5 cars at a time parked at the foot of the falls. However, the area has been left as natural as possible and there are no cafes, shops or bars in the village or the parking area to spoil things.

There are 4 levels to the cascades. The third level up is the most impressive, with a sheer cliff creating a host of individual waterfalls - some of which you can walk under.

The water from the cascades is purported to be good healthy spring water so be sure to take an empty bottle or two and fill up at the fountain in the village.

Visit any time of the year but try to make it the day after a good downpour of rain if you can.

— Kay and Mike Isaacs

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Un repas pantagruélique / A gargantuan meal

une coulèvre / grass snake

C’est par une belle fin d’après-midi ensoleillé de juillet lors de notre visite quotidienne à nos chevaux que nous sommes tombé  sur ce spectacle cruel de la nature : une couleuvre à collier avalant un crapaud  de bonne taille. La couleuvre était également très grande : entre  1m et 1,20 m  et adulte semble -t-il, car le collier n’était pas très visible. De loin, nous avons pensé que les chevaux avaient écrabouillé la tête d’un serpent, ce n’est qu’en approchant que nous avons vu le crapaud. Et par un heureux hasard, nous avions l’appareil photo avec nous. L’endroit, où nous avons observé ce repas pantagruélique est un terrain sec, sans point d’eau et avec de grands rochers granitiques proche de Cominac en Couserans.
Yvelise et Peter
Les Gîtes d’Anilac

It was at the end of a beautiful sunny July afternoon during our daily visit to our horses that we came upon this cruel spectacle of nature : a grass snake (a coulèvre à collier in French) swallowing a large toad. The snake was very large, too,  measuring between 1 and 1.2 metres and an adult it seemed, because the collar around its neck was not very visible. From a distance, we thought that the horses had crushed the head of a snake ; it was only on approaching it that we saw the toad. And by happy chance we had the camera with us. The spot where we witnessed this gargantuan meal is very dry terrain with no water source and with large granite boulders near to Cominac in the Couserans.

Yvelise and Peter
The gîtes at Anilac

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Le Maubermé

Bien moins connu que le Mont Valier, le Maubermé est le point culminant du Couserans avec ses 2880 mètres.
Le sommet offre une vue exceptionnelle sur l’Aneto et le Parc d’Aigues-Tortes et domine les estives du cirque d’Urets à l’Est ainsi que celles du Bentaillou à l’ouest.
L’itinéraire le plus facile aborde le sommet par son versant Ouest (2ème photo). Au départ du gîte d’étape d’Eylie, on remonte le vallon d’Urets jusqu’à son Port pour passer en Espagne…Il faut compter entre 10 et 12 heures de marche pour cette randonnée.
L’année prochaine, la nouvelle cabane d’Urets permettra de  couper l’étape en deux.

Less well known than the Mont Valier, at 2880 metres the summit of Maubermé is the highest point in the Couserans. From there one has an exceptional view of of the Aneto and the Aigues-Tortes Park  as well as the high altitude pastures of the Urets cirque to the east and the Bentaillou to the west.

The easiest route to the top is via the western slope (second photo). Departing from the gîte d’étape at Eylie, one climbs the Urets valley to the Port to pass into Spain.  This hike takes about 10 to 12 hours.

Next year, the new cabin at Urets will allow this walk to be done in two stages.

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