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Marmot Tours has based itself
in The Ariege, a little known region of Southern
France that straddles the Pyrenees from Comminges in the east,
the principality of Andorra in the south, and the area of
Rousillion in the west. Neil Lands, in his book on 'The
History, People and Places of the French Pyrenees', stated
that it was in fact his favorite region of the whole area,
"because it is full of little hidden valleys with
castles and towers", amongst wild and beautiful
scenery.
The area is rich in natural
beauty and history and remains wonderfully unspoilt, despite
being only 90minutes from Toulouse, and as such is a perfect
base for many types of holiday.
History:
The Ariege has been inhabited
for thousands of years. Prehistoric man left his mark
here in the form of some of Europe's oldest cave paintings
(bison, horse and ibex) at the famous Grottes de Niaux in the Vicdessos
Valley. Later, in the Middle Ages, the
religious sect, the Cathars, were linked to the Grottes des
Lombrives, in the local village of Ussat les Bains,
where local folklore says, during the Albigensian Crusades,
600 Cathars were walled up to die.
During the middle Ages the
area was ruled by the powerful Comte de Foix, who earned their
fortune from mining iron ore in the Vicdessos valley.
This seam was so rich that it was only worked out in 1931.
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