If you fancy a walk, Sal De Chioula just outside Ax Les Thermes is ideal.

If you park behind the church in Ax you can spend the morning exploring the village and going up the ski lifts. (take a jumper/coat if you are going to the top)

To get to Sal De Chioula turn left out of the car park and wind your way up the hill along the D613. Its a long climb with the obligatory hair pin bends. After you have gone 7-8 miles you come to some parking areas. Just beyond the path to the restaurant is a board showing all the walking routes. We chose route 8. It took us about 1 and 1/2 hours but this was at a brisk pace. The paths were well marked and easy to walk on. The views were spectacular and we only saw 3 other people.

There were alot of other different length, circular routes to fit whatever time you have. It was well worth the effort and finished off a nice day in Ax. 

Mohair aPyrenees of the ferme des Moulis at the foot of the Ariege Pyrenees.

See the Angora goats and take a guided tour.

My son Lewis did this trip with school and seemed to enjoy it. This wouldnt be a full day out but if you were in the area or wanted to purchase a mohair item then worth a visit. They do have a bouitque for buying thier products from.

See www.mohair-pyrenees.com for more information.

There is a safari park just south west of Toulouse. We havent visted this park yet but for further info see www.zoo-africansafari.com

This site is in french so here are the important bits.

the park is open

1st April to 30th Sept 930am to 8pm

1st Oct to 31st March 10am to 6pm

children between 2 and 10 yrs 7,50 Euros

Adults 11,50 Euros

There is free parking, a pic nic area, drive through safari as well as the zoo area to walk round. There are special shows with seals and parrots.

From the 1st Oct to 31st March the cafe is only open weds, sat, Sun and school holidays. (this is to coinside when the french children are off school)

This looks like and enjoyable day out with plenty of beautiful scenery. We have not done this activity yet and niether have our guests but for further information see www.landtreks.com

The space centre at Toulouse is supposed to be well worth a visit. We have not made it there yet and niether have any of our guests but for more information see www.cite-espace.com/content/gb/

There is a park dedicated to wolfs near to Ax Les Thermes. This has not yet been visited by us or guests. For further information see www.maisondesloups.com

Parc Australien is situated near to Carcassone. It is a place not yet visited by us or our guests. For further information see www.parcaustralien.com

Visited and written up by guest Nigel

Montsegur is easy to reach from Maison Famille and takes no more than an hour to get to. Go to Foix and then take the N20 south towards Andorra. Come off the N20 almost immediately onto the D117 signposted for Perpignan. Go through Nalzen and then within a few Kilometres take a right turn onto the D9 signposted for Montsegur (it is then signposted all the way to the top).

The road up is a good surface and quite wide, although with the usual hairpins. As you almost get to the top you will see free car parking on either side of the road. Park there and walk uphill to the beginning of the path (on the bend). Keep following the path upward (past the monument) and you will enter the trees.

After climbing for a while you will suddenly come upon the ticket booth set under the trees. When I visited, the booth was inhabited by a melancholy man who sussed I was English from my execrable French and complete lack of fitness. Adult entry was 4 Euros and for that you also get a brochure (in English).

Say goodbye to the jolly man and keep climbing to the top. I climbed in a thunderstorm with hail stones so the rock path was quite tricky in parts. The climb to the top is probably no more than 20 minutes in total although it felt a lot longer! When I had recovered from my heart attack I discovered that Montsegur itself is no more than a roofless ruin. So you are visiting more for the significance of the site than the building itself.

There are no facilities at the top. On a good day the views will be spectacular but on the day I visited the low cloud emphasised the isolation of the site. If you don’t explore, you will miss the wooden steps on the left of the building which show you a few small rooms on the upper level.

When back at the car park I suggest you go down the other side by the D9. This way takes you to Montsegur village which from memory had a cafe and other shops (although I didn’t visit). This way you also avoid Lavelanet and if you turn right when back on the D117 it takes you to Puivert which has a Chateau and other attractions.

Not recommended for young children unless you are prepared to carry them up to the top or elderly people who are not steady under foot.

For further information see www.montsegur.org

The lake at Puivert is about 1 hour 15 mins drive away from Maison Famille but well worth a visit. You leave Maison Famille and head to Foix on the D117. You stay on the D117 and follow sign posts to Lavelanet Drive through Lavelanet and follow sign posts for Belesta. This is all still the D117. Then going through Belesta you will see signs for Puivert. As you come down the winding hill in the trees you will see the lake off to your right.
As you enter Puivert the Lake is down a road on your right hand side. It has many sing posts together. One for the lake, one for camping, one for a snack bar. It is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it.
Go down this road and you will find two parking areas. The first you come to and one further on were the camp site is.

The beach is small and friendly with a big grassed area behind it.
There is a children’s play area with swing, slide and roundabout. You can hire pedlos and canoes. There are toilets (which are not the best I have seen but adequate) as well as a snack hut selling food drinks and ice creams.

The water is very clean and no bits under foot. The kids can walk out into the water and are quite safe as it is a gradual slope. The swimming area is roped off. 

Lewis my 3 year old and his friends loved it. I would say try and take some shade as it does get very hot. There are a few trees and shaded areas on the grass.
We have been a few times now but never manage to keep the brolly up for long as there is a breeze.

Great day out for the kids and for anyone who loves the beach. If you take a pack up it’s also a cheap day out.

Visit to Location VTT - loca Cycles

This activity was done by guests Debbie, Steve, Thomas 8 yrs and Lucy 3yrs

To get to loca cycles you need to head to St Girons from Maison Famille then follow the signs for Massat. It took us about an hour to get there.

Just before the sign for Massat and about 1 km before the village of Massat there is a small house on the right hand side. The sign says Location VTT but is small and easy to miss. You can park on the grass verge outside or opposite the house.

It is a small family run business. The young couple are French, they were very nice and spoke good English.

We chose to do the family circuit “col de port” at Massat. It took us about two and half hours.

The French couple take you in their car to the top of the mountain, it took about 30 minutes it was steep and lots of hairpin bends. (Get ready for car sickness)

You cycle on the road for about 5 minutes before you turn off left down the mountain route, this is a shale pathway and quite bumpy. It was about as wide as a car track. The scenery was beautiful.

The last 45 mins of the ride was on a road (at the obvious end of the mountain track turn left and keep on the road) It does go up hill slightly. You then meet another road with no sign posts but turn right here down hill and keep on this road. We never met a car or any traffic. It is a single track road and steep in parts.

This road leads all the way to Massat Village, follow signs for St Girons and back to the house to return the bikes.

 Adults and my two children 8 yrs and 3 yrs. Eight year old had his own bike and the three year old was in a seat on an adult’s bike. This cost 52euros. You sign an agreement before you leave and they kept our credit card as a deposit.

They kit you out with the bikes and helmets a pump and an emergency kit. They even give you an emergency tele number so remember to take your mobile.

It was an excellent half day.

When we arrived back at the house they gave us directions to “Ker Montagne des Hommes” From the house go towards St Girons (about 300m) there is a very small sign with KER written on it but above is a large brown wooden sign with a horse picture on it. You then go down a single track shale road and drive to the bottom and park on the left. You can walk and follow the river and there are plenty of wooden picnic tables and wooden toys for the kids to play on. The river was easily accessible and there were toilets and bins. It was a great picnic area that all looks new.

Down hill decent (mountain bikes)

This activity was arranged by Steve our sports organiser

My husband (Brian) and my dad (Colin) did this activity.

We arrived at a car park were we collected our bikes, helmets and some water. The bikes were state of the art and had good suspension.
We also met our guide here.

We started the ride with about an hour cycling up hill. We stopped on a regular basis to wait for the last person.

When we got to the top it was a steep rocky decent on a narrow path.
Then after that it was a fast decent down grass and through trees.
Then we wound our way down the back streets into Ax Les Thermes. Here we had a drink and discussed the ride.

We were then taken back to our cars in a bus and all the bikes were collected from us.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon, but hard work. This is not a ride for the un-experienced biker or children. The guide was brilliant he was insured and carried a first aid kit (that was used for knees and elbows)

****From what my husband and dad tell me this was a group of grown men having a whale of a time on mountain bikes. Falling off was all part of the fun they tell me!!!

White water rafting

This activities was arranged through Maison famille’s sports organiser Steve

From guests Kelly and Caroline

We were taken by car from Maison Famille to the location of the white water rafting. On the drive there we saw some beautiful scenery.

On arrival we met our guide William he provided us with a helmet, a wet suit and a life jacket.

You need to take with you a towel, swimming costume, dry clothes and some shoes you don’t mind getting wet and muddy.

We had a safety talk from Will who spoke very good English. He was very funny and had us all laughing. There were 8 of us on the boat including the guide.

We got into the boat and practiced our paddling and taking instructions from Will.

We paddled at a steady pace down the river, a gentle start. It then became a little more challenging and we hit some rapids. It was great fun. Be prepared to get wet and take a dunking. We were in the boat over an hour. We then did body surfing.

I would say you defiantly need to be able to swim to feel confident when falling into the water even though you have a life jacket.

We would both highly recommend this experience, we thoroughly enjoyed it. The guide Will defiantly made it even better as he was funny and witty.

Parc Animalier de St Michel

www.parc-animalier-ariege.com

05 61 67 55 78

From Maison famille take the d15 and head to Le Saret. At Le Saret turn Right onto the D119 towards Mas d azil. Go through Mas and stay on this road towards Sabarat. At Sabarat turn right staying on the D119heading for the village of Pailhes. In the village you go over the bridge and take a left turn sign posted Pamiers and Escosse still on the D119. Stay on this road until you see the D36 on your left sign posted St Michel. This is a single track road. Keep going along here and you will see the park on your right hand side. There is a big camel in the car park.

It is (at time of our visit) 6, 50 euros for an adult and 4, 50 euros for a child.

The opening times of the park were 1st Feb to 30 Nov 10hrs till 1800hrs.

I would recommend decent walking shoes as it is hilly in places. I would say the terrain is not suitable for a buggy as the paths are stony, hilly and in places muddy. (when been raining)

There are plenty of places to sit and eat a picnic. Benches and tables at different spots throughout the park. Toilet facilities at the entrance and a hut that sells drinks and ice creams. It states in leaflets and on there web site they do sandwiches, hot dogs and burgers but I did not see any. I would recommend you take a picnic.

Lewis our 3 year old managed the walk easily and thoroughly enjoyed the animals. They were friendly and you could stroke them and feed them with grass. After the walk and a picnic we sat and had an ice cream at the entrance.

Defiantly worth a visit with the kids. We were there a few hours and pulled in a visit to the caves at Mas d azil on the way back.

Parc De La Prehistorie

05 61 05 10 10

The prehistoric park is at Tarascon and about 45 mins away form Maison Famille.

From Maison Famille you get onto the D117 and head through La Bastide de Serou and into Foix. In Foix you need to follow signs to Tarascon. (At the bottom of the square at the Island turn right) Keep following the signs to Tarascon and you will go through the part of Foix with all the super markets and big stores. You will get onto the N20 and continue to follow signs to Tarascon. When you get to the end of the N20 follow sins to Tarascon then you will also see the signs for the Prehistoric Park. It’s easy to see, well sign posted and there is plenty of parking.

The price of entry at time of our visit was 9, 40 euros for and adult 13-18 years old was 7 euros and children 5-12 was      5, 70 euros with children under that age free.

Opening times vary through out the year.

Jan, Feb, March, Nov and Dec closed

April May June, Sept and Oct 1000hrs-1800hrs on weekdays and 1000hrs-1900hrs on weekends and public holidays.

July and Aug 1000hrs-2000hrs

There is a nice restaurant. We took a picnic and sat on the shaded tables were there is a children’s play area.

There is a man made cave with water fall that you can walk through and man made pools. The walk through the man made rocks is great for the kids, it has running water.

Around the park there are different activities going off at different times. You can go in the museum were you are supplied with a pack and headphones to wear. This is a talk in your language that comes on automatically as you walk through. My little boy loved this as he had his own head phones to.

If the weather is nice worth a visit, you can make it an all day event or you could do it in an afternoon.

The caves at Mas are only 10-15 mins away from Maison Famille. You Take the D15 to Le Saret and the turn Right onto the D119 and follow this all the way to the caves. There is parking on you right hand side just before the cave.

There is a little building that sells drinks. The ticket office is inside the cave and you walk to it from the road.

At the time of our visit it was 6, 10 euros for an adult and 3, 10 euros for a child 6 to 15 years, under that children are free.

The caves are open from different times at different times of the year.

    From middle of Feb to middle of May and end of Sept to end of Nov open Sundays only from 1400hrs to 1800hrs.

      From Middle of May to July and all of Sept On weekdays and Saturdays 1400hrs to 1800hrs, on Sundays and public holidays 1000hrs till 1200hrs and 1400hrs till 1800hrs.

In July and Aug every day 1000hrs till 1200hrs and 1400hrs till 1800hrs.

The tours which are done with a guide generally leave on the hour. We were in the caves for nearly one and a half hours.

There are some steep steps and at points were it was damp it was slippery. At one point you have to walk bent over as the roof is very low.

Wear good shoes and take a jumper for the kids (and ladies if they are anything like me) as it is cool inside.

 I wouldn’t recommend it for the elderly or infirm.

Worth a look inside. My 3 year old managed the steps and the slippery floors although holding hands was a must. He did start to get a bit board while the guide did her talks, but then they were in French so hard to understand. There are plaques on the wall that were in English and other languages. These showed information on the bit of cave you were in at the time.

Even if you do not go inside the cave for a visit it is worth parking the car and walking through by the road side to look at and here the water.