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Castelnaudary


Daley
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    Hi

Is anyone living in and around Castelnaudary?  If so, what is it like to live there, are there enough things to do and see during the winter months?  We are early 40's no children, looking for a town that is fairly busy, where there are things to do and see in the area: walking, cycling etc

Many thanks

Dale

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Hi Dale

Yep, we live on the outskirts of Castelnaudary (a reasonably-sized working town of around 12,000 folks, with lots of summer visitors) - we've been here for 2½ years now.  I'm 45 and my partner is 49, we've both set up our own businesses here so we keep fairly busy. 

If you like walking, there are plenty of randonnées in Castel (some organized by the AVF), and in most outlying villages, plus we see lots of cyclistes on the roads - not sure about any clubs but it should be easy to find out. 

We're within easy reach of lots of places here - Toulouse, Carcassonne, Revel, Castres, Northern Spain - with a a variety of landscapes including beaches, ski-slopes, mountains - we find it's a great place to live.

PM me if you're visiting the area and would like more information.

Sharon

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[quote user="Just Katie"]Didnt that famous chef spend a year or so in this town?[/quote]

Hi Just Katie - yes, John Burton Race lived near here while he filmed 'French Leave' in the area.  It was before we came here but we've seen one or two of the programmes (only 'cos it's in this area) - couldn't stomach watching too much of him and his family for some strange reason [8-)] [+o(] [:D]

 

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Yes Sharon (?), he did have his head up is Jacksy a bit.  He seemed a bit of a control freak and his family didnt really want any of it.  I felt sorry for him though, he worked hard to convert them to good food then his mother in law came over and filled the kids up with c rap[:-))]

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Hi Dale

If you're thinking of living around Castelnaudary or the Lauragais, there's one thing you really do need to be aware of - wind! The Autan wind is a real feature of the area - it blows from east to west, channelled along the 'dip' between the Montagne Noir and the Pyrenees, hard and often for several days at a time. We lived near there for nearly nine months (winter/spring/summer) while we were househunting, and we're by no means weather wimps (lived on the north Norfolk coast before we came to France and you can't do that if you're wind phobic) but boy were we glad to leave ..

I do have to say as well (and nothing to do with the wind this time) that we didn't really take to Castelnaudary - it's a very traditional town, based on industrial-scale agriculture, rugby and abbatoirs, is very conservative both in its outlook and in its town life and doesn't seem to engender much joie de vivre amongst its inhabitants, who come in to town to do their business and then go home. For example, we were amazed that the cafes didn't put out their outside tables until the end of May despite the fantastic weather we had in April. The walking is okay (though not a patch on Ariege where we are now) but not inspiring - the views of the Pyrenees are good though. All in all not quite our scene - though its horses for courses I guess. PM me if you want to know more.

Regards

Kalba

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