Walking Holidays in the Pyrenees
Mouli d’al Roc is a converted 18th Century water mill with six fully equipped gites or apartments. During the summer months of June, July and August, Mouli d’al Roc is an ideal place for family holidays and during the winter, autumn and spring months, ideal for those keen walkers, nature lovers and pantheists intent on exploring a beautiful, historical and non commercial part of France.
Suggested Winter, Spring & Autumn Walking Programmes
Walkers are spoilt with so much choice. L’Aude is a glorious place to walk without aim, just to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding wilderness and it is also fascinating to walk with a historical goal in mind. To fully appreciate this aspect of L’Aude, please visit the history section on our home page. We can arrange guides who know the randonne routes so well and others who are better versed than me in the history of this area, especially concerning the esoteric and mystical that this area is so rich in.
Visiting all, or some of the major Cathare castles which if completed on foot would take a good a week to cover. However we can arrange drop off and pick up points nearer to the castles that make a complete visit of the three major castles, Montsegur, Peyrepertus and Queribus possible in two days.
Arrangements can be made in advance for the climbing of Canigou, (months open are April/September) the highest mountain in this region at 2,784 metres. This walk is normally a two-day event. To climb Canigou does not require crampons, ice picks or Sherpas, just sturdy boots, warm clothing and a rucksack. To ascend Canigou it is necessary to travel down to the village Le Bolou which is just outside Perpignan and drive up the dirt track to the main plateau beneath the summit where an inn awaits you. Here you spend the night after a pleasant meal in the restaurant in their reserved bedrooms which to be honest are more suitable for army billeting, but are warm and clean. Getting up the following day at 6 am, we then proceed on the six-hour climb to the summit and the four-hour descent. Climbing this mountain is almost a pilgrimage for all Catalans.
Another mountain nearer to home is the Pech de Bugarach (1,230 metres) The history of Canigou is completely fascinating, for it is here that Heinrich Himmler and his SS, under the instructions of Hitler mined for the Arc of the Covenant and the spear that reportedly pierced the side of Christ whilst on the cross. Using Polish and Czechoslovakian slave labour the SS mined extensively thousand of metres of tunnels in this mountain.
I have read reports that Jules Verne in all his novels uses the name Bugarach or an anagram for one of his characters. Pech de Bugarach does figure very highly in its mystical connections to the Cathare and the Rennes le Chateau mystery.
Col St Louis is one of the lowest passes in the Pyrenees and researchers have discovered the old roman road that runs parallel with the tarmac road that crosses the viaduct on its way down to St Paul de-Fenouillet. It is reported that Hannibal passed this way. It is now illegal to use metal detectors in this site, but twelve years ago I met some keen walkers that responsibly used these devices and showed to me articles found on the surface of this old roman road, coins and shoe buckles of that period.
Rennes le Chateau is only eight kilometres away as the crow flies from Mouli d’al Roc. It is possible to walk to this fascinating village via the randonne trails that surround us.
A car is really required if you wish to extend your walking and rambling itinery. With this in mind it is possible to visit the Gorge de Galamus where Bertolucci filmed the Yangtze gorge scenes for the film The Last Emperor. I have been informed on good authority that a Chinese dry stone built village was constructed for these scenes and is still intact, but its existence is not generally broadcast to the public. I am still attempting to discover its whereabouts.
You have the thermal springs of Alet les Bains and the closer establishment of Rennes le Bains, ideal places for relaxing flogged muscles.
All of these walks and there are many more, with the exception of Canigou can involve us arranging for you to be picked up and returned to Mouli d’al Roc.
All of our Gites are fully self-contained, but unfortunately only with analogue television reception. Until the digital servers stop classifying small business as large hotels, it is impossible to pay their yearly tariffs. However we do have full digital reception in the bar.
Prices
Prices on Application.
The only facility Mouli d’al Roc cannot offer its summer off-season visitors is the use of the swimming pool. Not only would you possibly encounter an iceberg and our French insurance refuses to cover us for this eventuality, but the more hardy of our testosterone saturated male guests intent on taking the plunge would no doubt because of the sudden shock of the ice cold water, sue me for the total disappearance of their private parts, again another exception clause in my French insurance policy.
