Maps
Modern
Rennes-les-bains
From Paris, train to somewhere south - maybe Toulouse on the TGV. Then change for Carcassonne. Then change for Couiza, up the valley of the Aude, through deserted stations, climbing alongside the river.
In Couiza, pick up a taxi, perhaps, or a bus. Leave town east on a flat road that soon cuts its way into the steeply-wooded hills. Coustaussa up above on the left, looking like a ghost town, all jagged ruins. Cross the Sals - or Salz - then further east.
Lovely farmhouses down in the valley to the right. Arques up ahead, with its alleged Templar commandery and wonderful museum bookshop. But turn right well before that onto a windy road that heads almost due south. Steeper gorges, raked hillsides, dense dark green woods.
A final turn or two and here's the town. Parking left and right. Several storeys of the buildings lining the course of the river, down into the cutting.
On the left a pleasant square, shaded by lime trees. Someone eating a pizza with frîtes on top. Sit down and order a carafe of rosé and check the map. The village of Montferrand above. The spa below.
And all the odd things that have happened here.
