During a quick getaway for a day of skiing in the Pyrénées, my friend suggested that rather than head to Ax 3 Domaines in Ax-les-Thermes, we go a bit further toward a small station called Ascou. I had never heard of Ascou, but I was game to try something different. Ax-les-Thermes in the Ariège Departement is home to Ax 3 Domaines, a large ski station that is one of my favorites in the Pyrénées. But as we entered Ax on this Saturday morning in January, we could see that the streets were already clogged with cars and people renting skis…

Béarn is a one of those French names that has leapt into our view now and then without me ever having a clear idea of where it is or what it signifies. Sometimes it appears to be linked to Gascony and the Pyrénées but other times it’s described as its own distinct region. While the real D’Artagnon is the most famous Gascon of all, his fictionalized namesake in “The Three Musketeers” was from Béarn. It’s hard to nail down. Even doing a little research on the website for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the department where Béarn is located, left me confused. On…

Searching out the best and most garish Christmas light displays had been part of my holiday routine since I was a kid. While the holiday season in Toulouse is festive, we lack both a car and neighbors who believe the best way to recognize the season is to cover their houses in multitudes of blinking lights and animatronic elves and reindeer. Fortunately, we do have the Gaillac Lantern Festival, which provides a very different kind of holiday light spectacle. We’ve visited Gaillac, the Tarn Department’s third largest city, several times to explore its surrounding wine region. It’s wine and culinary…

If you’re heading to the mountains this season but looking for something a bit more exciting than a hotel or bed & breakfast, you can now book a night or two in igloo accommodations scattered across the French Alps and Pyrénées. The igloos range from fairly basic snow structurs to ones that feature dinner, bars, and lively nightlife. All that under the relative isolation of a night on the mountain side. Here are 5 companies that offer 9 igloo accommodations. An Alpine Igloo Undiscovered Mountains has igloos in the Southern French Alps at the Orcières 1850 ski resort. Located at…

During a daylong bike ride, we passed through the village of Lagraulet-du-Gers and spotted this unusual water tower covered with an elaborate mural. Only later did we learn that it was converted into a bed and breakfast by the town’s mayor, called Le Château D’Eau Lagraulet. There is the main room, dubbed a “bedroom beneath the stars.” And roof is a terrace where breakfast is brought each morning. Jean-Paul Chambas is the artist behind the fresco. Depending on which days and the length of the visit, prices range from €90 per night to €150 per night.

Saint Paul Saint Louis du Marais in Paris is a church so nice, they named it twice. Originally Saint Paul’s church, dating to 1430, was the main cathedral in this neighborhood. But it was destroyed in the Revolution. So Napoleon eventually designated this one, then called Saint Louis and dating from 1627, to be the new center of worship for this corner of Paris. But as a compromise, the local bishop eventually convinced him to add Saint Paul to the name, in memory of the one old one. Pleasing the parish, even if the final name is a mouthful.

A desire to visit a long-time friend living in the village of Sainte-Pierre-du-Val inspired our first real trip to the Normandy region. We had barely crossed the border into Normandy once before after camping in Brittany to make the obligatory visit to Mont-Saint-Michel. Having checked that legendary site off the list, we didn’t really have a big agenda when we arrived for a longer stay. So when our friend proposed a day trip to nearby Honfleur, we were game to venture into the unknown. Upon arriving, it was easy to see the allure. We parked near the old port, and…

France’s craft beer boom has been building slowly for several years, but the impact of this hops revolution really struck me one summer evening while meeting a friend for a glass of wine. We had sat on the terrace of a bar across from the Marché de Carmes in Toulouse and ordered two glasses of red wine. As we waited for them to arrive, I noticed something odd as the waiter continued to take other orders. Young, old, middle age, they were all ordering beer. I craned my neck around and couldn’t see another glass or bottle of wine in…