Page 327 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eating & Sleeping

4 Hôtel de la Cité Historic Hotel €€€
Carcassonne 1 (%04 68 71 98 71; www.hoteldelacite.fr;
place Auguste-Pierre-Pont, La Cité; s/d/f from
5 Au Comte Roger Modern French €€ €230/270/350; aWs) Built in the 19th
(%04 68 11 93 40; www.comteroger.com; 14 century in the Gothic Revival style, this is
rue St-Louis, La Cité; 2-/3-course lunch menus Carcassonne’s most magnificent place to stay.
€24/30, 3-course dinner menu €41, mains Palatial rooms are individually appointed, many
€20-32; hnoon-1.30pm & 7-9.30pm Tue-Sat) with wood panelling and/or timber beams, and
The citadel location bumps up the prices some have panoramic private terraces. Floor-
considerably, but this is one of the better to-ceiling bookshelves line the private library,
establishments for traditional cassoulet (stew which has its own bar, and there’s a topiary-
with white beans, Toulouse sausage and duck). flanked swimming pool. Its Michelin-starred
The restaurant’s smart dining room has cream- restaurant, La Barbacane (p325), is sublime.
coloured chairs and tables and polished wooden
floors, but the best seats are in the vine-draped
courtyard beside an old well. Foix 8
5 La Barbacane Gastronomy €€€ 4 Château de PYRENEES & SOUTHWEST FRANCE 29 THE CATHAR TRAIL
(%04 68 71 98 71; www.hoteldelacite.fr; Beauregard Hotel €€
place Auguste-Pierre-Pont, La Cité; 3-course (%05 61 66 66 64; www.chateaubeauregard.net;
lunch menu €38, 6-course dinner menu €85, av de la Résistance, St-Girons; r €100-220, d incl
mains €40-60; h12.30-2pm & 7.30-9.30pm) half-board €180-300; pWs) In St-Girons,
Carcassonne’s finest dining is inside the halfway between St-Gaudens and Foix along the
Hôtel de la Cité at chef Jérôme Ryon’s D117, this grand château is ideal for playing lord
Michelin-starred premises. Opulent carved of the manor: the house is topped by turrets and
woodwork and stained glass set the stage for surrounded by 2.5 hectares of gardens, with
unforgettable dishes utilising some of France’s grand rooms named after writers (some have
finest produce: poached Bouzigues oysters with their bathrooms hidden in the castle’s corner
preserved lemon; Charolais beef with potato towers). There’s also a pool, spa and a great
churros and Perigord sauce; and Languedoc- Gascon restaurant.
grown saffron, white asparagus and black-garlic
risotto with Cévennes goat’s cheese. 4 Hôtel les Remparts Hotel €€
4 La Maison Vieille B&B €€ (%05 61 68 12 15; www.hotelremparts.com; 6
(%06 23 40 65 34; www.la-maison-vieille.com; cours Louis Pons Tarde, Mirepoix; s €68-78, d
€82-98; W) Built into the bastide architecture
8 rue Trivalle; d €90-95, f €105-125; W) As of Mirepoix, this is a smart option, with a mixed-
charming a B&B as you’ll find in Carcassonne, bag of nine rooms that combine modern design
this old mansion’s beautiful rooms include with the building’s centuries-old heritage – a
Barbacane in blues, Cité with exposed brick, patch of exposed stone here, a wonky wooden
Prince Noir with an in-room bath, and vintage- doorway there. The excellent restaurant is one
furnished Dame Carcas. Filled with fig trees, of Mirepoix’s best, serving fine French cuisine
olive trees and lavender, its walled courtyard is (menus €26 to €37) under stone arches and
idyllic for breakfast. It’s handy for the walled city great oak beams.
and Ville Basse; families are warmly welcomed.

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