Five kilometres after Mons, you reach the medieval village of OLARGUES , scrambling up the south bank of the Jaur above its thirteenth-century single-span bridge. The steep twisting streets, presumably almost unchanged since the bridge was built, lead up to a thousand-year-old belfry crowning the top of the hill. With the river and gardens below, the ancient and earth-brown farms on the infant slopes of Mont Caroux beyond, and swifts screaming round the tower in summer, you get a powerful sense of age and history. There's a tiny tourist office on rue de la Place near the church (July & Aug daily 10am-noon & 4-7pm; rest of year Wed & Sat 10am-noon & 2-6pm; tel 04.67.97.71.26), as well as an old train station now served only SNCF buses . The Laissac , just outside of town in the Domaine de Rieumégé (tel 04.67.97.71.26; €24-34; closed Nov-March), is a decent-enough hotel , but a better deal is Pauline Giles' homely Les Quatr' Farceurs in rue de la Comporte (tel & fax 04.67.97.81.33, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; 35), which also serves huge meals with free-flowing wine for 18. Campers should head for Camping Le Baous , down by the river (tel 04.67.97.71.50; closed mid-Sept to mid-April)

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ST-PONS-DE-THOMIÈRES , 18km further west, is a little larger and noisier: it's on the Béziers-Castres and Béziers-La Salvetat bus routes, as well as the Bédarieux-Mazamet route. This is the "capital" of the park, with the Maison du Parc at 13 rue du Cloître (Mon-Sat: July & Aug 10am-noon & 2-6pm; rest of year 10am-noon & 2-5pm; tel 05.63.37.45.76) by the cathedral - a strange mix of Romanesque and classical. It also boasts a small and reasonably interesting museum of prehistory (mid-June to Oct daily 10am-noon & 2.30-6pm; rest of year Wed, Sat & Sun 10am-noon & 2-5pm; €3.05), across the river from the tourist office on place du Forail (July & Aug daily 9am-7.30pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-noon & 2.30-6pm, Sat 9am-noon; tel 04.67.97.06.65).

If you need to stay , try the basic Le Somail , near the tourist office (tel 04.67.97.00.12; €24-34), or the much smarter Les Bergeries de Ponderach , 1km out of town on the Narbonne road (tel 04.67.97.02.57, fax 04.67.97.29.75; €61-76), with a good restaurant. The municipal campsite (tel 04.67.97.34.85) is on the main road east to Bédarieux. There's also a good camping à la ferme , La Borio de Roque (tel 04.67.97.10.97; closed Oct to mid-June), 4km north of St-Pons on the D907, and chambres d'hôte 2km further on at La Ferme de Tailhos (tel 04.67.97.27.62; €34-46). Continue along this road and you reach the Col du Cabaretou, with the stunningly situated Auberge du Cabaretou (tel 04.67.97.02.31, fax 04.67.97.32.74; €34-46; closed mid-Jan to mid-Feb), with a terroir restaurant serving menus from €14.49. North of here the D907 leads to La Salvetat in the heart of the park.

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