Location: Tarn in France
Nearest Train:
Cordes-Vindrac at 6
Kilometres
The 'Pays Cordais' (the region of Cordes) is a land of green hills and valleys, of historic hill-top towns (the 'bastides'), of quiet rivers, of rich history and magnificent cuisine. It is 15 miles from the spectacular medieval cathedral city of Albi, from the millennial wine-growing country of Gaillac, and from St Antonin-Noble Val, nestling between two rivers under the 300' limestone walls of the Aveyron Gorge. At 45 miles to the Southwest lies Toulouse, France's fourth city, with a historic centre, the majestic Garonne river, and all around the 'pays de cocagne', anciently so enriched by the pastel industry that the 'cocagnes', the balls of drying plants, became a byword for the good life. On a really clear day, one can see the Pyrenees, towering and snowcapped, on the horizon: they are about a 3-hr drive from Albi. Nearby are the bastides of Penne, Castelnau de Montmiral and Puycelci, and the 120,000-acre national forest of the Grésigne with its exquisite wildlife.