Book a place for your holidays in Ariege, France
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Some incredible wildlife within the gardens here and locally at the moment. Our resident Red Squirrels are busy stocking up on walnuts and yesterday we had some incredible views of European Rollers, Marsh Harriers, Black-shouldered Kites, a Short -toed Snake Eagle and a White Stork a few kilometres away. We have also had Honey Buzzards overhead and stopping briefly on their migration south.
Two stunning birds posing long enough to have their picture taken - a rare treat. The Golden Oriole (male) is one of the most striking birds we have here but is adept at evading the camera lens. This one was happily singing away for quite some time out in the open. The second bird is a Hobby taking advantage of a tall tree at the edge of our woods to pick its next hunting zone.
We still have some availability for July and August. If you fancy relaxing by the pool, enjoying the wildlife and colourful gardens or exploring the wonderful Ariege countryside, nearby Toulouse and much much more, please get in touch. www.roudeille.com
Great panoramic views of the Pyrenees this morning on one of our local walks.
Lovely paddle down the Hers river this afternoon. New business well deserving of support. Very organised, quality equipment, clear course and safety briefing. Looking forward to next season!
The beauty that is the Ariège Pyrenees.
It's a few years since we last visited this amazing underground experience, a short distance from Roudeille. It cannot be recommended highly enough. An incredible boat trip - on three levels - deep under the Ariège hills.
Just over an hour's drive north of Roudeille and at the western edge of the Montagne Noir, lies the oldest barrage in France, built between 1667 and 1672 to supply water for the Canal du Midi. Pleasant lakeside walk, picnic, ice cream (and water activities for those inclined) with impressive waterfalls and fontaine (La G***e).
Last few dates available in our gites for this summer including the beginning and end of July and early August. Special last-minute discounts for friends and those working in schools. If you fancy relaxing by the pool, surrounded by colourful gardens whilst being serenaded by birdsong, please get in touch.
Good walk - although not the one we set out to do as that was closed due to rock falls - but plenty of views and orchids, including Military and Butterfly (not sure if Greater or Lesser). Crazy bungee jumpers at the cave itself - but another activity to add to everything else this fabulous part of France has to offer!
Decided to make the most of the glorious weather before threatened thunderstorms arrive and attempt a new walk (for us). The Sentier des Demoiselles did not disappoint. Steep in parts but so worth the effort for the views, rock formations, orchids, gentians and other wild flowers, black kites, butterflies, including a very friendly Common Blue, red squirrel and newts in the local fontaines.
First Swallowtail of the year and what a beauty! Heard our first Hoopoe of the year in the garden yesterday, male Blackcap has been singing his heart out and we now have a pair of Little Owls so hoping they will nest and raise young. I do love this time of year.
Spring has definitely sprung here in the Ariège - it is amazing what a bit of rain does for the garden. The incredible frog chorus has started with frogspawn and toadspawn in our two ponds, our resident Little Owl is calling and has just been joined by a Scops Owl (need to try and get a photo of this stunning but very elusive bird) and our friendly pheasants (one male with two females) regularly ignore the cats in our back garden, although if chicks arrive I think this will change!
Magical winter walk this afternoon in the foothills of the Pyrenees Ariegeoises just 50 minutes from Roudeille. Two very close encounters with Red Deer just added to a fabulous 7.5km trek. Stunning.
Happy New Year from the Ariège!
Incredible start to the year. Walking our local circuit from the house, we came across an amazing site - Australian Zebra Finches apparently happily coexisting with local sparrows and flitting about the trees. This place never ceases to amaze!
All good wishes for 2023.
First sharp frost of the season. Chilly (particularly as out wandering in my dressing gown and slippers - just as well we don't have any close neighbours!) but beautiful.
Good local walk from St Ybars down to its lake and back. Last time we did this, the lake was empty. This time full with lots of crayfish in the shallows (invasive Signal Crayfish I think but fascinating and colourful nevertheless).
Bonne promenade locale de St Ybars jusqu'à son lac et retour. La dernière fois que nous l'avons fait, le lac était vide. Cette fois-ci, il était plein, avec beaucoup d'écrevisses dans les bas-fonds (des écrevisses signal envahissantes, je pense, mais néanmoins fascinantes et colorées).
Last night's Djembe fest!!
Just half an hour from Roudeille and another great free festival with music, dance, street stalls, packed restaurants and people simply enjoying the Foix vibe and perfect evening temperatures after yet another scorcher. Fancy going next year? Early bookings made now for 2023 will be at 2022 prices.
À une demi-heure de Roudeille, un autre grand festival gratuit avec de la musique, de la danse, des stands de rue, des restaurants pleins à craquer et des gens qui profitent simplement de l'ambiance de Foix et de la température parfaite du soir après une nouvelle canicule. Envie d'y aller l'année prochaine ? Les réservations anticipées faites maintenant pour 2023 seront au prix de 2022.
Stunning views and local fauna and flora from the Cap du Carmil just up from the Tour de France descent into Foix.
Impressive as always - just an hour from Roudeille.
Celebrating Fete Nationale / Bastille Day in style in Saverdun. Ceremony to honour the Sapeurs-Pompiers with all the trimmings including the excellent Orchestre Harmonie d'Auterive (who have an outstanding clarinettist in their ranks), Napoleonic musket firing and military vehicle drive-past with a Sherman tank. The French certainly know their pomp and circumstance! Great stuff.
Our first honey harvest. Very exciting!
Last year's colony didn't survive the winter but our new one is much larger, stronger and very, very busy. The honey is quite pale and has an amazing aroma - our next harvest should be after the sunflowers have finished so will probably be much darker.
An extraordinary bird descended on us today and we have so far managed to prevent our cats from making it an exotic feast. I think it is a Mosaic Canary, clearly an escapee from somewhere but it has seemed quite at home eating ants on the water hose and flitting from tree to tree. Whether it will still be around tomorrow is anyone's guess but great that it decided to pop in on us!
Beautiful skies tonight over Roudeille...
A new (for us) local walk, just south of Foix. A good one to do in the summer heat as it is mainly through beech forest up a mountain-side (it is quite steep in parts) to three impressive waterfalls with great views on the way down.
Une nouvelle (pour nous) promenade locale, juste au sud de Foix. C'est une bonne randonnée à faire pendant la chaleur de l'été, car elle traverse principalement une forêt de hêtres et grimpe le long d'un flanc de montagne (c'est assez raide par endroits) jusqu'à trois cascades impressionnantes avec de superbes vues sur la descente.
After a blisteringly hot couple of weeks we have had a decent amount of thundery rain which seems to have sparked the insect world into overdrive. The garden and especially the buddleia, is festooned with colourful butterflies - Scarce Swallowtail, Northern Brown Argus, Map, Marbled White, Peacock, Silver-washed Fritillary, Silver-spotted Skipper to name but a few.
Springtime colour here at Roudeille. Recent guests have said how much they love the gardens and attendant bird song (especially the Nightingales) and frog/toad calls!
We still have some availability in early July and 8-13 August - please get in touch if you would like a last-minute break.
A sure sign that Spring is gathering pace - a beautiful Swallowtail butterfly taking advantage of the warm sunshine to feed on the nectar of some of our flowers this afternoon. The Nightingales have returned and are singing constantly, as have the Golden Orioles, Cuckoos and Hoopoes and our several bat colonies but all are avoiding the camera...so far.
You never know what might drop in, particularly as the spring migration has already started. A solo Common Crane (Grue Cendree) in an adjacent field this morning. We have seen migrating flocks overhead on previous occasions but this is the first time we have seen one on the ground. What a great start to the day!
Lieu-dit Roudeille, Route De Canté
Saverdun
09700
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Last night's Djembe fest!!
Some music from this evening's Bastille Day celebrations in town. Great to see the community getting together again!
Our picnic spot today...
Bergun Landferien in Frankreich
Lieu-Dit Bergun
