Cordes-sur-Ciel

Cordes was founded in 1222 by the count of Toulouse as a bastide, a new fortified town, during the Albigensian conflict, and it grew rich on leather and cloth in the following century; the merchants built Gothic houses along the main street with carved facades of animals, hunters and grotesques, unusually elaborate for domestic buildings of the period. It stands on a steep isolated hill, and in autumn and winter mist fills the valley below while the town stays clear, which is where the suffix sur Ciel, meaning on sky, comes from; it was added officially in 1993.

What you actually see

• The carved Gothic houses - merchant facades with animals and grotesques.
• The bastide gates - successive rings of walls up the hill.
• The sea of cloud - valley mist below the town on autumn mornings.
• The craft workshops - artisans working along the upper street.

When to go

April to October for the town; autumn and winter mornings for the cloud inversion, which is a weather event rather than a guarantee. Summer brings a medieval festival and crowds.

Honest expectations

The climb from the car park is steep, and a small road train runs in season for those who need it. The inversion happens on some mornings, not most. Ground floors are largely craft shops.

Nearby

Albi lies southeast; the Sidobre is east.