cocagne

the PASTEL
Cocagne comes from "Coke" (the wafer in occitan) and indicates the ball or hull which was obtained after the crushing and drying of the pastel. Of its scientific name "Isatis Tinctoria" the pastel resembles a kind of big green salad. Washed, dried and crushed, the sheets are then worked in balls (famous feasts). After fermentation, they give "the agranat", black granulous paste, which is used to obtain the invaluable dyeing of a very constant blue. The pastel appears since the XIIth century in Languedoc undoubtedly originating in Spain or the East. Its culture develops in the Southern-Pyrenees starting from XIIth century thanks to ideal geological and climatic conditions. Dyeing of great quality, it interests the large clothiers of Northern Europe and since the Middle Ages trade routes are created for its routing towards the ports of the Atlantic. The golden age of the commerce of the pastel lasts from te middle of the XVth century to the middle of XVIth century. Witness of this period of abundance, private mansions and castles that are made build by the great families of merchants. The harvest with a poor quality , the speculation and swindles, the unrest of the Wars of religion which disorganize trade routes, in addition to the competition of the indigo appearing in the XVIth century led to the decline and the disappearance of the culture of pastel.

CHARMING ...REALMONT
In the heart of Tarn, halfway enters Castres and Albi, Réalmont is located on the axis of Auvergne Spain
This royal country house, founded in 1272 to thwart the influence of Catharisme in the area, is the epicentre of a network of hiking trails where te delight of the walk and vestiges of the rural past of the city are combined: pigeon, huts of vine grower, laundrette... Of its prestigious history Réalmont preserves a vast place and arcades, picturesque streets bordered of houses with corbellings, as well as a monumental fountain of XVllth century, offered by the playwright Guerin de Bouscal, Consul of Réalmont. This author was a friend of Molière, who played one of his works thirty times before the court of the King Louis XIV, after his Languedocian stay. The occitan literary life was also marked by the lines of the poetess Louisa Paulin, native of Réalmont. Laughing City with multiple trade, seat of one of the most beautiful markets of the area, its dynamism is also affirmed through the multiple Events which proceed there: fair of the farm equipment, theatre and animations of street in costume at the time of the "Festival of Molière", Country music, blues and rock'n'roll during "Ré' AI Croche

" LAVAUR.... CATHARE CITY
Thousand-year-old city, Lavaur welcomes you in its case of greenery. Its river, Agoût, curves on the foot of the beautiful Saint Alain cathedral sheltering a splendid organ Cavaillé-coll, a polychrome dresser of XVIth century. Its famous automat: Jacquemart, shells the hours of the top of its tower. From the time of Cathares up to our days, the history of Lavaur is present at each corner of street; monuments, fountains, and old houses. Its gardens, where the flowers and the motives that are well ordered in the multicoloured pallet, charm from May to October the visitors. The heart of the city beats at the rhythm of its sporting and cultural animations, and the atmosphere of its festivals. Its fairs and markets attract regularly a crowd.The culinary traditions of south-west are respected. In short, to stop in Lavaur, it is to want to remain.

GRAULHET... CITY Of HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
Aside of the main roads, without inland waterway, nor railroad, Graulhet is known for its amateurs of Rugby, its professionals of leathers and skins, and its factory of adhesives and gelatines with European dimensions. Derived from the tawing, leather working develops in Graulhet in the first half of the XXth century.Graulhet jealously preserves the vestiges of its rich past. One can admire there the Pont Vieux (old bridge classified Historic building) built in 1244; the medieval district of Panessac, with its houses with sides of wood and corbellings of XVIth and XVllth; the Door of Gouch which overhangs Dadou (it was formerly surmounted by a body of constabulary); the Fashionable country inn of Lyon d' Or, single treasure in the south of France. Graulhet: city in the countryside, posed on a checkerwork of fields and wood, between plains and hills, lakes and rivers, likes to welcome you and make you share its softness of living and its taste for the festival.

VALLEY Of AGOUT... "NATURAL" COUNTRY
Nested in full heart of this Country of Cocagne, a center of the triangle of Albi, Carcassonne, Toulouse, the Valley of Agoût offers wood landscapes, hedges and fields that are cultivated in mosaic and enamelled of villages and hamlets:
It is thus the halt "sport and nature" of the Country of Cocagne. Fond of the ramble on bicycle or on horseback, you will appease your passion on more than 80 km of marked out paths, and much more for the touring cyclists, on very pleasant and little attended roads; strolls on foot are organized every Wednesday. Highly skilled or initial riders, you will practise horsemanship in all its forms, and whatever your age. Impassioned of golf, you will exert your talents on the spot, on superb golf with"18 holes". In addition, many artists gathered in three associations made of it their land of election. The Valley of Agoût is also the case of a whole inheritance, witness of a rich occitan culture - museums, pigeon, etc. Thus the castle museum of Magrin, the only one to emphasize the enthralling history of the pastel thus of the feast. Today, innovating farmers tend to market the richnesses of the soil directy. A whole world thus, which is there to accomodate you for the pleasure, for your pleasure.

LAUTREC... MEDIEVAL CITY
Lautrec is located at the heart of the department of Tarn, at 15 km of Castres and 30 km of Albi.
The city developed on the foot of a rocky outcrop which procured to it since the night of times an ideal defensive site. The village kept many traces of its prestigious past: ramparts and gate of Caussade (Xlllth), old Convent of Benedictines (XVllth), Collegiate of Saint Rémy (XIVth) classified historic building, the Place of the Markets (XVth), the underground silos and many half-timbered houses and corbellings... A such true book of history, the old stones will tell you the glorious past of Lautrec. The windmill is one of the rare mills of the South of France to still manufacture flour. In the workshop of the Sabot-maker you can re-examine the history of this trade and these tools. Remarkable site of the Lautrec taste is also the capital of Pink Garlic. A red label rewards its exceptional conservation and its famous savour.

PUYLAURENS -. OCCITAN CITY
A crossroads between the Toulouse metropolis and the economic castrated basin, Puylaurens, from the the top of its hill, dominates vast landscapes: towards the north, the rich and green valley of Agoût, towards the south the imposing Black Mountain and the marvellous line of the Pyrenees. This strengthened city was to become in the XVIth century one of the florets of the Country of Cocagne thanks to its famous "Cocanhas" of the Pastel, which, while giving blue to all Europe, was going to make the richness and the reputation of the area.
It accomodated in 1660 the Protestant academy of Montauban and it is in 1792 that a shoe-maker troubadour from Puylaurens named Guillaume Lavabre baptizes the very young Republic with the name of Marianne with the song "Garisou de Marianna".Inherited from the Middle Ages, the market of Wednesday remains a place of meetings and exchanges. Equipment of leisures invites to holidays ,and the existence of an artisanal allotment offers to the village a diversified economy. Puylaurens: city where the motto" see far, live close" is conjugated in the heart of the country of Cocagne.