Foix

Just over 40 years ago I played a game of rugby in Foix. 

We drove by the castle and the town on the way to and from the rugby ground (the main road bypasses the town). At the time I thought it would be nice to come back and have a look around.

Today I did.

An easy 75 minutes by train, but a different world to Toulouse. 

A class of schoolchildren were going into the castle about the same time as me - a school trip. They were gossiping away to themselves in Catalan. The teacher spoke to them in French.

The Ariège département (where Foix is located) is on the border with Spain and Andorra (Catalan is the official language in Andorra) and is next door to the Catalan speaking area in France. 

My train to Foix continued on to Latour de Carol on the border with Spain, to link up with a Spanish train for Barcelona. Half of me wanted to go with it. I did that journey once, and it is spectacular when the railway gets into the Pyrenees proper. A white knuckle ride, in fact. 

A great day out today. Great weather, a lovely lunch and a charming wee town.

The Blip is the view of the castle from the main road - the view which "grabbed" me 40 something years ago.