THE RUINS OF LIANTRAN: DISCOVER ONE OF THE OLDEST PASTORAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE PYRENEES / Liantran has been used by shepherds for around 7,000 years, and it was surveyed by archaeologists for the first time in 2018. What they discovered makes Liantran one of the largest and most complex pastoral sites discovered in the Pyrenees.

WHY ARE THE PYRENEES CALLED THE PYRENEES? / This question has been debated since Classical times, and there is still no clear answer today. Back in the 16th century, the future King Henri IV of France thought he knew why. These mountains were called the Pyrenees because one of his ancestors had ravished a princess inside the cave of Lombrives.

TRANSHUMANCE: THE LONG WALK HOME / The word transhumance derives from two Latin words meaning across (trans) the ground (humus), and more precisely, it refers to a form of mobile livestock husbandry in which herders move their flocks regularly and repeatedly between defined seasonal grazing areas.

PIGEONNIERS: THE INSIDE STORY / Arguably, no creature has had more beautiful homes built for it than the pigeon, and the 6,000 that remain in our region display an astonishing variety of shapes, sizes and styles. This raises an obvious question: why did so many people go to so much trouble to house a bird?

HOW DID LAUTREC GET ITS PINK GARLIC? / ​​Exactly when pink garlic took root in Lautrec is unknown, and its miraculous appearance is, perhaps inevitably, the subject of a legend.

WHAT MAKES ROQUEFORT CHEESE BLUE (OR GREEN)? / Cheese is often associated with bread, either in a sandwich, on a croque monsieur, or during the cheese course at the end of a meal. With Roquefort, this connection is made long before the cheese reaches the gourmet’s plate, and the origin of this fortuitous alliance is the subject of another legend.

KEYS TO THE CHÂTEAU / Writing is rarely a route to riches, but when Colin Duncan Taylor moved to France, he found it was a key that opened the door to many a château (article first published in French Property News).

WAR DIARY: 20 JULY 1944 / This is the story of a massive ground and air attack by the Germans on the Resistance camps of the Montagne Noire, including the subsequent report by the pro-Vichy gendarmes of Mazamet.

LOUISA PAULIN, OCCITAN POET, 1888-1944 / Her work won several prizes, including an award from the oldest literary institution in the western world – the Acadèmia dels Jòcs Florals, or the Academy of the Floral Games, founded in 1323 by seven troubadour-citizens of Toulouse.

ROQUEFORT CHEESE – THE OLDEST FRENCH APPELLATION / This village in the south of France is famous for transforming ewe’s milk into blue cheese worth €350 million a year. Commercial success has left its mark on Roquefort, but not in a way you would expect. An interview with the mayor explains why nearly all the dwellings in his commune are uninhabited.

ON THE ICE HOUSE TRAIL IN THE MONTAGNE NOIRE / Pradelles-Cabardès lies just below the highest point of the Montagne Noire – the Pic de Nor. A century ago, this tiny mountain village dominated the ice industry in our region. The best way to grasp the scale of this enterprise is to take a stroll along Le Sentier des Glacières (The Icehouse Trail).

THE CANAL DU MIDI AT BÉZIERS / When it was opened in 1682, the Canal du Midi was called the Eighth Wonder of the World, a 240km waterway connecting Toulouse to the Mediterranean. ​From its highest point at Naurouze, the canal descends 189 metres to the sea via 45 locks. Perhaps the most impressive of these hydraulic lifts is the flight just outside Béziers called the Nine Locks of Fonsérannes.

A RARE LOOK INSIDE A PIGEONNIER OR DOVECOTE / A local historian told me about a pigeonnier which, he assured me, was the most fascinating example he had ever been inside. I took a short drive over to Saint-Germain-des-Prés near Puylaurens, and then off I went across a field of stubble armed with a ladder and a camera.

INTERVIEW WITH A LIVING LEGEND / Rugby fans of a certain age will remember the Spanghero brothers. Laurent played second row, but he brought fame to the family name through his career as a butcher. More recently, the King of Cassoulet has switched to making food products that are 100% vegetarian.

A MORNING RUN THROUGH 10,000 YEARS OF HISTORY IN THE MONTAGNE NOIRE / Why do I love the Lauragais and the Montagne Noire? Where else can you find a heritage trail that offers so much in such a short distance, not to mention seeing France’s most beautiful tree?