Few days in Hautes Corbières, Southern France

[Karaba]

Hi,

Just few pictures about four days in Hautes Corbières, Aude, France. This is a quite unkown area, close to Pyrenees, still mediterranean but some mountanous plants at the top of the hill. No town, only (very) small and beautiful village. The closest towns are Narbonne (east) Carcassonne (north) and Perpignan (south).
We (my familly) walked on four top : pech Cardou, Château de Peyrepertuse (Cathar castle), Milobre de Massac, Milobre de Bouisse. Last two are not very high (~900 m) but you can find a lot of alpines dwarf plants. The wind is so strong that no tree can grow and the vegetation is very low, sparse and dry with million of flowers in late may : helianthemum, genista, androsace, globularia, linum, aster... In beginning of may, the crest start to flower but they were still some earlier plant like Fritillaria pyrenaica, Narcissus assoanus...

Fritillaria pyrenaica, quite common above 600 m, last picture with Globularia nudicaulis and Primula veris

[Karaba]

Pech cardou, dry grasslands withwith Biscutella laevigata  Muscari neglectum, Thymus vulgaris (and Fritillaria pyrenaica  and Dianthus pungens, not on picture)

Château de Peyrepertuse, one of the most beautiful cathar castle

Saxifraga fragilis on a wall of the Castle

Chaenorrhinum origanifolium on the wall of the castle

[Karaba]

"Some" Narcissus assoanus near Col de Redoulade and on the top of Milobre de Massac.

One with four flowers !

Last picture : dry 'grassland' with Thymus vulgaris, Narcissus assoanus , uscari neglectum, Ranunculus gramineus and Biscutela laevigata, climbing to Milobre de Massac.

[Karaba]

At the top of Milobre de Massac,

Androsace villosa

Globularia repens

Daphne cneorum

panorama with Pech de Bugarach and the snow on the Pyrenees.

[Karaba]

Last pictures

Sky blue columbine, Aquilegia vulgaris ssp. subalpina

Cistus abidus

my daughter, Dactylrhoriza insularis and ... me... (find who si who  )

[Karaba]

Some old pictures (bad quality) from Milobre de Bouisse (end of may)

Top of the Milobre

Millions of flowers

Aster alpinus and Leucanthemum graminifolium

Androsace villosa

[Yann]

great to see here photos of this nice region, Bugarach and its meadows....happy memories.

[Gabriela]

It looks beautiful Yvain and so many gorgeous plants!

[Vincent]

Very nice Yvain, thank you for showing! I would love to visit the area sometime, france got so much to offer! Narcissus assoanus is lovely, my favourite.

[Armin]

Yvain,
great images and what a lovely narcissi meadow.