Saint Felix is a lovely little town situated on a hill top in the Haute Garronne department of the Midi-Pyrenees. Its location affords it some wonderful views across the French countryside into the Languedoc Roussillon region where the Pyrenees act as a fabulous backdrop to the already impressive views.

The town makes the most of this position and has built a 'table de orientation' at the edge of town where you have the best views and close to the 'Chateau de Saint Felix Lauragais' which was built in the 13th century and is now a privately owned property listed as a 'monument historique'.

You will find a nice town square just up from the church and the day we visited there was a jazz band playing from a restaurant on the corner of the square. We managed to catch the last few tunes and were quite pleased to find anything going on as this was a Sunday afternoon and you have to know where to go to get a bit of life on a Sunday in the South of France, although if you are in this region you will find that the craft shops and stalls of Durfort near to Revel and Soreze are usually open and working on a Sunday during the summer months.

Saint Felix is no stranger to craftworks either and has a potter's market that runs throughout September each year. You can contact the Office de Tourisme in St Felix by ringing 05 62 18 96 99, coutry code for France is 33.

As an entity I believe that the Pays de Lauragais is not particularly well known, but on investigation you will find that the region has a lot to offer the tourist and any visitors to the area, the capital of Pays de Lauragais is Castelnaudary which sits on the Canal du Midi which is a world heritage site which was built by Pierre Paul Riquet.

Some of the towns of interest and within an easy driving distance of St Felix Lauragais are Villefranche de Lauragais that has a fabulous church with a 6 bell walled belfry, Revel with its famous Saturday morning food market and Durfort with its traditional copper crafting industry.

The history of the Cathar period is also rife in the region with Issel and St Papoul just down the road plus Saissac only a stones throw beyond St Papoul and of course the fabulous walled city of Carcassonne within 40 minutes.

There is also an abundance of mills all through the region with one of the nicest examples being at Mireval just south of Castelnaudary.

With its mix of hills and planes you will find that there are plenty of other places beyond St Felix that can provide spectacular views across this lovely countryside. Places such as Saissac and Fanjeux, each with their own interest and history.