Discoveries
The region is full of treasures
Culture and history
Albi
(15 minutes by car) Unesco World Heritage Site, with its breathtaking St. Cécile cathedral, its museums (Toulouse Lautrec,...), its downtown area where it's so pleasant to stroll along the Tarn.
The surrounding bastide towns ★★★
Cordes-sur-Ciel (15 minutes by car), Castelnau de Montmiral, Rabastens, Lisle-sur-Tarn...
Rodez
Notre-Dame cathedral and the museum dedicated to the famous painter Pierre Soulages (1 hour's drive)
Toulouse
The pink city (1 hour by car)
Penne
Charming medieval town with its castle (GR linking Penne to Cordes-sur-Ciel)
Lisle-sur-Tarn
Waterside bastide, former stronghold of the wine and woad trade.
Carcassonne
Medieval city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bournazel
(1h15 by car, between Rodez and Villefranche de Rouergue), with one of the most remarkable Renaissance castles in southern France and its gardens.
Laurent Ridel
Gastronomy
Wine producers
Gaillac, one of France's oldest vineyards, with its wine route and producers
- Domaine d'Escausses (in Sainte-Croix; 7 minutes by car) Aperitifs and concerts in summer. Well worth a visit. TO KNOW MORE
- Château de Saurs (Lisle-sur-Tarn) Organic wines - possibility of visiting the gardens on certain occasions (near Gaillac) TO FIND OUT MORE
- Domaine Gayrard (8 min from La Poudié): Organic Gaillac wine. La Guingette offers tapas-style snacks in season. An opportunity to discover the Domaine's wines in the bucolic setting of our beautiful Occitan Tuscany. TO KNOW MORE
Olive and black truffle producers
Domaine Rigaud in Livers Cazelles (5 minutes by car). Visits, workshops, themed walks by appointment. Located Camp del mas, 1105 route de Souel à 81170 Livers Cazelles
+33 6 14 85 22 60
Distillerie Castan
Castan distillery (4 minutes by car): international award-winning whisky. Visit with explanations and tasting by appointment.
Located 55 chemin de la cardonnarie, 81130 Villeneuve-sur-Vère
+33 5 63 53 04 61
Local markets
Nature
Grésigne forest (Castelnau-de-Montmiral)
One of Europe's largest oak forests. Numerous hiking trails (it is bordered by the GR 46 long-distance hiking trail).
The meandering Tarn and the Ambialet peninsula, with its priory.
Saint Salvi de la Balme and Lacrouzette
Saint Salvi de la Balme and Lacrouzette with their enormous granite boulders (the Sidobre massif is Europe's largest granite plateau).
Mazamet footbridge
1h15 min from La Poudié.
The footbridge swings 70 metres above the Arnette valley. This 140-metre-long aerial walkway links the heights of Mazamet with the small medieval village of Hautpoul.
Flea markets
In Albi
In Toulouse
Monthly on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (avenue F. Verdier)
Other
Numerous village garage sales in season.
Local festivities and events
Truffle Festival
Albi Carnival
One of the biggest carnivals in the Occitanie region. Numerous parades with floats, giant parades, costumed groups and much more.
Pastel night in Albi
(the flower for which the Tarn is famous): the night of the first Saturday in June, during which some twenty events are organized in the streets of the town, along a path of light from the Albigensian mills to the Parc Rochegude, from the right bank to the left bank of the Tarn: concerts, sound and light performances, contemporary dance, exhibitions, street arts, musical storytelling, children's choir, etc.
Guitar break in Albi
Renowned music festival (Wednesday 5.07.2023 to Sunday 09.07.2023)
Aperitif concerts
In summer, aperitif concerts at Gaillacois winegrowers' estates, where you can taste their wines, listen to music and meet the winemakers.
Gardens to visit
Château de Saurs
Château de Saurs (Lisle-sur-Tarn) organic wines - possibility of visiting the gardens on certain occasions
Les jardins des Martels
In Giroussens.
Paradise Gardens
In Cordes-sur- Ciel.
The plant castle
Between Carcassonne and Albi. An estate dedicated to aromatic and dyeing plants, mainly woad flowers, from harvesting to extraction and indigotage to the dyeing workshop.
Other activities on the theme of Pastel
The gardens of Château de Bournazel
Label jardin remarquable - 1h15 drive from La Poudié.