Where is Les Papillons?

Is one of the first thing people ask us. The house is situated all the way in the south of France in a little 'hameau' (5 houses) called 'Embarou'.

Where is Embarou?

Emabrou belongs to the municipality of 'Mirepoix' a lovely medieval town about 7 kilometres from Embarou.

Where is Mirepoix?

Mirepoix is just at the foot of the Pyrenees in departement (a kind of province) called 'Ariège'. Mirepoix is about an hour south of Toulouse and about 40 minutes south-west of Carcassonne.

Mirepoix

So now we zoom in on Ariège and we can see Embarou just to the left and a bit higher than Mirepoix

France

On the map on the right the departement Ariège is highlighted red.

Ariège

As we zoom in on departement Ariège you can see Mirepoix highlighted red

How to get there?

By Car

Coming from Toulouse

Coming from direction Toulouse take the A61 direction Narbonne, at the next junction take the A66 direction Foix. When you reach 'Pamiers' the highways turns into a semi highway. At Pamiers you will see a sign for Mirepoix. Get off the highway and the signs to Mirepoix will now lead you onto the D119 which will take you directly to Mirepoix.

By Plane

Flying to Carcassonne

Carcassonne Salveza airport is the closest international airport. It's a very small airport with only a couple of flights a day. Ryan Air, a low cost carrier, has made it it's hub in the south of France. So there are a number of cheap flights arriving and departing there everyday. They fly to three destinations in England, one in Ireland and one in Belgium. At Cracassonne airport it's possible to rent cars, for a good price too if you book in advance. Click here to go to the site of Aiport Salveza.

Airlines departing Carcassonne Salveza

(Click on the logo to go directly to the airline site)

Car rental at Carcassonne Salveza

(Click on the logo to go directly to the car-rental site)

Flying to Toulouse

Toulouse Blagnac is a bigger airport with a lot of daily flights. Blagnac is the centre of Airbus and at the moment the only place you can see the new A380 fly! Toulouse airport hosts a number of commercial airlines with which you can connect to almost any place in the world. To fly to Toulouse is most of the time more expensive than flying to Carcasonne. Easyjet flies from Toulouse too but only to Paris and London. At Toulouse airport it's also possible to rent a car. Click here to go to the site of Airport Toulouse Blagnac.

Airlines departing Toulouse

(Click on the logo to go directly to the airline site)

Car rental at Toulouse Blagnac

(Click on the logo to go directly to the car-rental site)

By Train

To Pamiers

There is an international train station at Toulouse. The TGV (the French high speed train) connects it at high speed to the rest of France. From Toulouse you can take a normal train to Pamiers. Pamiers is the closest you can get to us by train. On the site of SNCF (the French railway company) you can book train tickets and see the train schedules.

(Click on the logo to go directly to the SNCF site)

Coming from Carcassonne

Coming from direction Carcassonne pass through the city going south and get on the D119 to Montréal, Bram and Mirepoix. Keep on the D119 until you reach Mirepoix, easy going!

By Bus

To Carcasonne, Narbonne, Toulouse, Limoges

Eurolines supplies a bus connection to almost each medium city in Europe. The price is right but the time it takes to get somewhere is sometimes very long. It took Marten, my cousin, 22 hours to get from Amsterdam to Limoges. On the site of Eurolines you can book tickets and see the bus schedule.

(Click on the logo to go directly to the Eurolines site)

Coming from Andorra/Spain

Coming from direction Andorra/Spain take the N20 direction of 'Ax-Les-Thermes, Foix, Toulouse. Follow the road until you reach Pamiers. At Pamiers you will see a sign for Mirepoix. Get off the highway and the signs to Mirepoix will now lead you onto the D119 which will take you directly to Mirepoix.