The delightful village of Olargues has found a deserved place on the hotly contested list of most beautiful villages in France, called Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. There are 180 of these charming and historic places in the official guide. I’ve been wowed by quite a few of them on trips to France over the years, but even by these standards, Olargues is an absolute gem of a place.
To earn a spot on the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France list, each village must have fewer than 2,000 residents and at least two protected sites or national monuments. All told, there are 32 criteria that the villages have to meet to qualify. If you’re on the list, you have definitely won the right. It can’t have done Olargues’ case any harm that it is to be found at the base of the Montagnes du Caroux in the Haut-Languedoc National Park.
I probably use ‘picturesque’ too frequently, and likely not always correctly given that it was originally an 18th century artistic ideal thought up by English artist, William Gilpin. In this case though, the tumble of medieval houses that climb a hill topped by a clock tower in the ruins of a 12th century castle, all overlooking the River Jaur and the extraordinary arch of the Pont du Diable, or Devil’s Bridge, fits the description perfectly.
This area has been inhabited for at least 2,000 years, but the village you see reflected in the weir next to École d’Olargues dates to the 12th century. This was when the fortified castle was built on the hilltop above the village, and the Pont du Diable was constructed over the river. The village suffered a siege at the hands of the Albigensian Crusade, the military campaign against the heretical Cathar religious movement.
It was during the later wars of religion in the 17th century that the village and its castle were destroyed on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu. The climb up to the castle ruins and the clock tower is faily arduous, but the views over the valley and village are wonderful. It turns out that the castle hasn’t gone anywhere, over the centuries people used the stone from the ruins to build houses in the village.
Descending through the village, we explored the narrow, cobblestone streets lined with houses with colourful shutters. Steep stairways led off the streets into even narrower passageways. There’s very little in the village, a small museum, the pleasant church and a couple of art galleries. You do not come to Olargues for nightlife, that is for sure. It was also clear that the heat had driven most people from the streets.
As we came down the last street and through the former medieval gate of the Porte Neuve, we found ourselves in front of the town hall. We were hungry and thought about heading off in search of lunch when we saw people emerge from next to the former railway station with a stack of pizza boxes. A little investigation unearthed a pizza truck, some tables under shady trees and cold beer. Very little could have made us happier.
The train station revealed another secret. The disused railway has been converted into a hiking and cycle track that stretches around 80km to join up several villages and towns in the area. After an impressively good pizza and the aforementioned cold beer, there was little chance of us setting off for a post-lunch stroll. Plus the heat really was making life uncomfortable as it hit the high 30Cs.
Instead we walked through deserted streets back through the village, crossed the Pont du Diable with its beautiful views along the river in both directions, and headed to the hotel to cool off in the pool.
Beautiful.