Places to visit

Places to visit: Mazamet

This post should have appeared last week, but an important birthday took precedence. Max has now enjoyed a week long birthday celebration! On his birthday we decided to go out for the day and picked a town called Mazamet – about an hour and a half from us. We had viewed a house near this town when we were house hunting, but given that it had a tiny garden overlooking the local cemetery, it was not for us. At the time we had another appointment so couldn’t visit Mazamet, but were curious to see what it is like.

The day we visited was grey but dry. On our drive through Mazamet to find a car park, we guessed that perhaps the town has seem better days, a place once grand, as we were to learn, now a little faded.

Mazamet was once the global centre of the wool trade and there are a number of quite amazing large mansions that belonged to those who made lots of money during that period. However the history of Mazamet begins earlier than that.

When the medieval hilltop village of Hautpool was destroyed in the 13th century, some of the surviving inhabitants moved down the mountain to settle in the valley on the banks of the river Arnette, creating the Mas d’Arnette, which would become Mazamet.  They re-established their textile activities to supplement the low income from farming poor quality land. During the religious wars Mazamet suffered first for its allegiance to the Cathars and then for Protestantism. By the 19th century however Mazamet had become one of the most prosperous towns in France.

The success was based on the wool industry. Factories worked on sheep skins, separating the wool from the hide. Hides, a by-product of the meat industry, were used in the leather trade in this area. In 1851 an industrialist, Pierre-Elie Houlès, developed a technique to separate the sheep’s wool from the skin, known as wool-pulling (le délainage). This wool is not as good quality as sheared wool, removed from live sheep, but is nonetheless an important commodity.  Gradually the town gained a global reputation for the quality of its production process, the high quality leather but also the variety of wools available, as skins were imported from around the world. Since the decline of this industry Mazamet has turned to the development of tourism due to its beautiful location at the foot of the Black Mountains.

We dropped in to the tourist office to get a map of the town – Max loves a map! We were not sure if the lady working there was just covering for the day as she mixed Mazamet with Castres and wasn’t sure about eating options. We had arrived late so missed lunch. We eventually found the one boulangerie open, the other 2 had closed for lunch, and ‘enjoyed’ a slice of soggy tuna and leek quiche each and a lemon meringue tart – tasty but the meringue wasn’t keen to stay on top of the lemon! I have to say the coffee was lovely, as was the spectacular Mimosa tree we could see across the road from the park bench. Not quite the planned birthday lunch, but one to bank in the experiences section of our memories.

We set off, almost recharged from our interesting lunch, to walk the route that takes you past the maisons bourgeoises (grand houses or mansions in other words). On the way we happened upon the Jardin des Camélias – a camelia garden – once part of the garden of one of these amazing mansions, the Maison Fuzier, now a museum. The camelias everywhere in Mazamet are truly stunning – so many colours, all in flower. There must be something in the soil there as really I don’t remember the last time I saw such an amazing display. Obviously now I want my garden filled with camelias. Some of the shrubs were huge so I imagine were planted many years ago. A magnificent display.

The houses too are breathtaking. Such beautiful architecture and quite a history around the styles. I could quite happily live in pretty much any of them. My style of house!

We also passed many an interesting building; old storage warehouses for wool, derelict buildings in need of some love (and a huge amount of money). What a place Mazamet must have been at the height of its prowess in the wool trade.

We also walked up the hill towards the suspension bridge that takes you across the valley to Hautpoul, where those who first settled in Mazamet originally came from. It was pretty windy so we decided to save that trip for another day. We walked back down along the water route, another important part of the wool trade. Warehouses backing on to the fast flowing river, some derelict, others transformed into offices or homes. It is fascinating to look at the back of these buildings towering above the cascading waters and wonder at times gone by.

Tired and foot sore, not to mention a little peckish and thirsty we made our back to a Salon de Thé (tea room) we had spotted earlier. Oh my goodness what an emporium of teas, spices, condiments and interesting items, with such a lovely owner, brimming with knowledge about teas. She had so many on offer – I chose a green tea with citrus and ginger, Max a Russian Earl Grey. The teas arrived with a timer and instructions to each of us as to how long the tea should brew. I fell in love with my tea cup – breakfast sized, gilded, Limoges porcelain found in a brocante. It was so beautiful. We had a lovely hour sipping tea and joining in the conversation between the one other customer and the owner, clearly a place to relax and while away some time. We couldn’t resist a few purchases, including some of the tea. This is a good reason to return to Mazamet.

Mazamet is an interesting place with a fascinating history and worth a visit to learn more about the wool trade, how it started here and how important it became. The merchants’ mansions are just gorgeous, although you can’t visit them, as I assume they are mainly privately owned. Go during spring to experience the camelias – they will take your breath away, along with the magnolias, blossom and mimosa! Have lunch or tea at the lovely Salon de Thé. Make a trip of it and do the bridge to go up to Hautpoul or walk in the Black Mountains – beautiful scenery all around and I gather a great view down onto Mazamet. I will let you know when we return to walk up to Hautpoul.

PS This is my 100th post! However like the dalmations, I will talk about that in my 101st post!

(Photos of the bridge to Hautpoul and looking down on Mazamet courtesy of tourisme-castresmazamet.com and guide-tarn-aveyron.com)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *