St. Martory to Mane.—The road crosses a steep ridge of hills.
Mane to St. Girons.—Level. Do not cross the River Salat until St. Girons is reached.
St. Girons to Le Mas-d’Azil.—A well-engineered road through a hilly country.
Pamiers.—A dangerous winding descent to the town. The rest of the way to Carcassonne the road is undulating, without any dangerous hills, except on the east side of Fanjeaux, where the descent has a sharp turn.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
St. Gaudens.—A small town with a fine Romanesque church; richly carved capitals and carved choir-stalls.
St. Martory.—Though a small place, has two imposing eighteenth-century gateways. Gendarmerie built with stone from Abbey of Bonnefont, from which ruin comes the Romanesque door of the church.
St. Lizier.—A Gallo-Roman town now shrunk and decayed, but very picturesque. Stands on a steep hill, crowned with Episcopal Palace, surrounded by walls which have Roman bases. Romanesque church, with beautiful cloisters and Roman stones built into apse. Medieval bridge over river.
St. Girons.—A busy little town; church rebuilt in 1857; thirteenth-century château, now Palais de Justice, not very interesting.
Le Mas-d’Azil.—A small town near the remarkable limestone cavern called the Grotte du Mas-d’Azil, through which the road runs.