Erected on rocky outcrops, Cathar castles watch over golden-brown hills, dotted with vineyards. In the middle flows a cool river. Pines and scrubland are already blooming in the South. A real postcard! It is here, in the heart of the Montagne Noire, that nestles the small village of Mas Cabardès, isolated in the most rugged part of Cabardès, where the Orbiel valley sinks deeply, with the smallest streets are like charming stone stairs !.

Coming from Carcassonne, soon after Lastours, continue the road which winds through the sides of the mountain, it becomes narrower, more sinuous too, but what beauty, wild and incomparable! The place is very popular with cyclists and hikers but also by the Irish and English who have settled, either permanently or for their daily vacation, far from the noise of the city, crowds and pollution.

From Carcassonne, allow half an hour driving slowly to reach this small village, lost in the Montagne Noire.

Once a prosperous village of weavers and miners, this little-known gem now has just over two hundred inhabitants. Many abandoned houses bear witness to the closure of the Salsigne mine, which employed so much labor (extraction of gold, but also iron, copper, lead and silver). The tanneries and draperies are also closed. Due to a lack of customers, the shops of this village have in turn closed ... But the village grocery store, the post office and the police and a few craftsmen still resist the passage of time.

Coming to Mas Cabardès is like going back a century to come and recharge your batteries in a preserved setting.