If you are interested in healthy, outdoor activities, sightseeing or just gathering new experiences, Fos provides an excellent base to operate from.
Contents:
Activities
Sightseeing
Local facilities - restaurants, shops etc
Activities
The GR10
The long distance walk, the GR10, runs the entire length of the Pyrenees from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Banyuls-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean sea. Fos lies approximately in the middle of the route and Le Repos du Moine is 50m from it. From here you can make half day or day hikes along the route from Fos. Obviously we welcome all walkers attempting the entire route.
For more information, please consult the following links:
Wikepedia - general information and definition, including more links.
Mountainbug - specialists in activity holidays with a good illustrated diary of the GR10 route.
Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre - Official organisation for walking in France. French only. Sorry.
Other walking
You don't have to be an intrepid trekker to enjoy the Pyreneen scenerey. There are many gentler walks in the surrounding hills which offer magnificent views. The picture on the right shows the monument to 3 Slovenian bears, released as part of the repopulation in the Pyrenees. It is a gentle one and a half hour walk from Le Repos du MoineGuided Activities
'Par Monts et par Vaux' (By Mountains and by Valleys)
Par Monts et par Vaux - Philippe, an excellent English-speaking guide, who lives in the village offers a wide selection of activities to enhance your enjoyment of the
beautiful mountains here. There are plenty of options: a guided walk, including delicious Savoyard meal or beer festival; a tour to see the splendid
nature in the area - marmots, deer (bears?); a snow-shoe trek with a night in an igloo and many more. We would be be pleased to liaise with Philippe
to arrange any of the activities he offers. Please see the Par Monts et par Vaux website for more details.
Activities on the river
We overlook the River Garonne which rises in Spain as La Garona and flows all the way via Toulouse to Bordeaux. Here, where the river is narrow and fast you can enjoy a little excitement kayaking and rafting.
Antignac rafting offer rafting, canoe, kayak, hot dog (appears to be a
kind of inflatable canoe), airboat and hydrospeed (a bit like a luge on water). French website only.Thermalism
The Pyrenees are peppered with towns which have thermal spas and this area is no exception. There are 3 close to us:
Termas Baronia (website currently only avaiable in Spanish, Catalan and French), the nearest to us, 10 mins just across the border in Spain is a beautiful thermal spa. It offers: steam room, sauna, ice bath, warm marble room, three jacuzzis at variable temperatures, footbath, reflexology Chinese track (like a flooded cobbled street), indoor and outdoor pool, gym equipment and relaxation area. Personalized beauty treatments including an unusual facial involving local caviar, manual therapy and hydrotherapy are also available.
Thermes de Luchon. In Bagneres de Luchon (half an hour by car) the thermal spa is a working medicinal spa where people regularly come for various cures. However, for a relaxing afternoon after hitting the bars and shops it boasts a vaporarium unique in Europe carved into the mountain behind the main reception building and a pleasant swimming pool with jets.
Balnea. (website currently only available in French and Spanish) Just under one hour away by car, Balnea is a beautiful spa, located near the mountain village of Bordères Louron. It offers a variety of spa baths in Roman, American Indian and Tibetan themed areas. There is also a gym and healthy food, environmentally friendly restaurant.
Skiing
Fos is centrally placed to access 4 diverse skiing resorts offering both alpine and nordic skiing at all levels:
Le Mourtis (17 km) Our local ski resort. It contains 25 km of delightful downhill runs through the surrounding pine forests and arguably the 'best' black run in the Pyrenees. In addition it has 45 km of nordic skiing through forest tracks. French website only)
Superbagnères (26 km) is the ski resort which overlooks the thermal spa town of Bagnères de Luchon so you can finish off a day's skiing with a relaxing soak. There are 32 km of downhill and 4 km of nordic skiing. The ski resort is served by a high-speed cable car (8 mins) from the main town.
Peyragudes (40 km) 2400m at its summit, Peyragudes comprises the twin resorts of Les Agudes and Peyrasourdes on either side of the mountain and offers 60 km of superb downhill pistes.
Baquiera/Beret (46 km) Premiere resort in all Spain extending to a height of 2500 m and with a massive 108km of downhill slopes as well as a 7 km cross country circuit.
Mountain biking (VTT)
There are wonderfully dangerous opportunities to break your neck descending down the local countryside. Both Le Mourtis and Bagnères de Luchon are geared up to hire kit and provide excellent routes down the mountains. You can take your bike up the cable car at Luchon.
Duathlon
Fos hosts an annual international duathlon in July. This truly is a world class event and not for the faint hearted; a 12.5 km hill run followed
by an 82 km cycle ride climbing 2 km and another gentle 10 km run.For more information, go to the Fos, Val d'Aran website. I shall not be participating this... or any year!
Sightseeing
Pyrénées Hô (13km)
In the heart of Comminges, 1h15 from Toulouse and close to Spain, you can find this 100% natural adventure park, built in the middle of woods and mountains! With family or friends, come to challenge the five elements, on the ground or up in the air, there's something for everyone!
Link: Pyrénées Hô - French only
Val d'Aran (5km)
This hidden corner of Spain, partitioned from the rest of the country by the high peaks of the Pyrenees is particularly beautiful and has a totally different feel to it as soon as you cross the border just 4 km from our B&B. Although it is part of Catalnunya, it has it's own culture and unfathomable language. The two towns of Les and Bossòst and the privincial 'capital' of Vielha provide a pleasant outing for shopping, eating and drinking. There are, in addition, many pretty villages to explore.
The following link gives more information:
Val d'Aran Tourism - English language version of main tourism site with all the usual recreational information.
Val d'Aran - Pyrenees Essence - Excellent website with more information about the valley;
English version.Bagnères de Luchon (26km)
As well as an outdoor activities centre, Bagnères de Luchon (twinned with Harrogate) is a pretty market town in its own right. As well as shops, bars and restaurants. The market takes place on Wednesday and Saturday.
Links:
Luchon tourism site in English.
St Bertrand de Comminges (25km)
St Bertrand de Comminges has been built on the site of a Roman city, at the base of the Pyrenees, and still has some Roman remains. It was a large town called Lugdunum Convenarum, where Pompeii ruled over 100,000 inhabitants. Things have changed slightly and the village now has about 250 inhabitants! It is in a lovely sleepy location, surrounded by the lush green valleys of the region and overlooked by the Pyrennean foothills. Within St Bertrand de Comminges you can see some very traditional barns of the region, with their impressive carpentry work clearly visible. The house that now holds the post office is a splendid 15th century town house known as Maison Bridaut.
St Bertrand de Comminges cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary dominates the quiet village below where the attractive little medieval houses huddle in its shadow. The cathedral is not exactly understated, it looks as much like a fortress as a cathedral and was built in the 12th century. It is a highlight of a visit to St Bertrand de Comminges - above all for its belltower, cloister and gate. Don't miss the carvings in the choir - a fine show by the best of Toulouse craftsmen in the early 16th century. There are also some excavated remains of the original Roman city to see.
Links:
St Bertrand official website (French only)
Local facilities
Restaurants
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English-run hotel bar restaurant in the villageAuberge du Crabère - Homely restaurant in the nearby picturesque mountain village of Melles (3km)
Other
The village contains a bakery and grocers shop (epicery), a post office and a psychic medium.