Part 7 — Find Your France

Occitannia

Beyond Paris, my debut book, is inspired by 22 years restoring a Medieval/Renaissance castle in the Aude department in South West France. In fact, the sister Château to Rennes le château of Dan Brown fame.

My hindsight will inform and entertain those who have done it, are thinking about it and the simply curious, as we continue our romp through 17 châteaux in rural France and their regions. Read on…

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Occitannia

Wilderness and tradition. A less discovered gem of the south west.

Continued from Part 6 — Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Sophie Duncan and James McDonald at Château de St-Ferriol and Alison Ward and Paul Hunter at Château de Brametourte are properly down south in Occitanie. This part of France has been a thoroughfare for Mediterranean traders, invaders and migrants for over a thousand years. Both Picasso and Goya lived the last part of their lives in this region. Occitanie is exotic and different, even to the majority of French people.

Tarn: Alison & Paul

In the department of the Tarn, around Alison and Paul’s Château de Brametourte, industries are fine and ancient. In particular, they have a reputation for rose garlic, silk and hats. There are no big cities in the Tarn, yet in spite of the rural pace of their village, Lautrec, Alison and Paul are only…