France Guide
The Pyrenees
Limoux and L'Abbaye de St-Hilaire
24km south of Carcassonne, LIMOUX is served regularly by SNCF buses; those arriving by car will find free parking on the riverbanks by the picturesque old bridge. The town straddles the Aude, for much of the year a powerful brownish-green flood of snowmelt. Life revolves around pretty place de la République in the heart of the old town, with its Friday market, brasseries and cafés, and the nineteenth-century promenade du Tivoli, in effect a bypass road on the west. Previously known for its wool and leather-tanning trades, Limoux's current claim to fame is the excellent regional sparkling wine, Blanquette de Limoux, cheaper than champagne, and easiest gotten from the Aimery-Sieur d'Arques Co-operative in avenue du Mauzac (daily 9am– noon & 2.30–7pm).
Blanquette was supposedly invented 11km northeast by minor road in 1531 at the Abbaye de St-Hilaire, which dominates the centre of the eponymous village. The Gothic cloister (always open) doubles as the village square, but the main attraction is the so-called sarcophagus in the south chapel of the thirteenth-century cathedral (daily: Nov– March 10am– noon & 2–5pm; April– June & Sept-Oct, same hours, closes 6pm; July– Aug 10am–7pm; €4). This is one of the masterpieces of the mysterious Maître de Cabestany, an itinerant sculptor whose work – found across the the eastern Pyrenees on both sides of the border – is distinguished by the elongated fingers, pleated clothing and cat-like, almond-eyed faces of the human figures. Here the arrest of evangelizing St Sernin (Saturnin), patron of Toulouse, his martyrdom through dragging by a bull, and burial by female disciples is portrayed on three intricately carved side panels of what's actually a twelfth-century marble reliquary too small to contain a corpse.
Limoux's tourist office is at promenade du Tivoli 32 (July– Aug daily 9am–7pm; Sept– June Mon– Fri 9am– noon & 2–6pm, Sat– Sun 10am– noon & 2–5pm; 
04.68.31.11.82). The better value of two hotel choices is Des Arcades, north of St-Martin church at 96 rue St-Martin ( 04.68.31.02.57; closed Dec 15 to Jan 1 & Wed; Price: €41-50). The municipal campsite ( 04.68.31.13.63; mid-May to Oct) is on the east bank of the river, south of the old bridge. The best independent restaurant is Maison de la Blanquette, at 46bis promenade du Tivoli, which purveys regional dishes and wines (closed Tues; menus from €17.50; 04.68.31.01.63), more interesting than the merely sustaining fare (menus from €16) in Des Arcades' time-warped diner overlooking St-Martin church.