Issue No. 19

that it's close to several major tourist
destinations including fabulous
Carcassonne, Toulouse and Albi - it ticked
all our boxes.
Finding the dream home
As we drove over the Monts de Lacaune
from nearby Roquefort on July day, the
clouds began to clear, the temperatures
started to climb, and we descended into
the town of Mazamet – once famous for its
international wool trade. The azure blue
skies and the stunning Montagne Noire
providing a picture-perfect backdrop and,
as we were an hour early for our
rendezvous at the property, we made our
way into the centre ville. We stumbled
across an amazing chocolatier with a
queue out the door – which, being British,
we dutifully joined.
Mazamet felt right. There was a small
Sunday morning market selling the
essentials and a few bars where French
men sat on the terrace - sipping espressos
waiting for their wives to come out from
morning mass. What struck us was the
beautiful architecture of the buildings in the
centre of town which would not have
looked out of place along the boulevards of
a much larger, grander, town.
As we turned into rue Pasteur, there ‘she’
was – standing proud, the burgundy
coloured shutters shining in the summer
sun. The moment we set foot through the
front door we knew that No. 4, rue Pasteur,
Mazamet was meant to be ours.
We learnt that the property was built in
1934 by an accountant in Mazamet’s wool
industry. The owners explained that the
property needed to be re-wired but that was
the extent of the major works need (little
did we know then that it would take more
than three years to complete all the work!).