LACAUNE makes an agreeable stop if you're heading for Castres. Surrounded by rounded wooded heights around the 1000m mark, it is very much a mountain town, one of the centres of Protestant Camisard resistance at the end of the seventeenth century, when its inaccessibility made the region ideal for clandestine worship. There are bus connections most days - not at very convenient times, usually afternoon or very early morning - to Castres, Albi and Bédarieux.

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The air is fresh. The town, though somewhat grey in appearance because of the slates and greyish stucco common throughout the region, is cheerful enough. For a place to stay , try Fusiés , an erstwhile coaching inn opposite the church on rue de la République (tel 05.63.37.02.03, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; €46-61; closed Jan, Fri evening & Sun Nov-March), offering an old-fashioned classiness, or the simpler Hôtel Calas , a little way up the hill (tel 05.63.37.03.28, fax 05.63.37.09.19; €34-46), which has a highly-rated restaurant (menus €6.86-36.60).

From here to Castres the most agreeable route is along the wooded Gijou valley , following the now defunct train track, past minuscule Gijounet and LACAZE , where a nearly derelict château strikes a picturesque pose in a bend of the river.

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