With numerous SNCF buses a day from Boussens, on the main Tarbes–Toulouse rail line, and ordinary bus connections on to Aulus, Ustou, Massat and Sentein, ST-GIRONS may be your first taste of this out-of-the-way region. Apart from its long association with cigarette-paper manufacture, the most striking thing about St-Girons is its central pavements, made of a local reddish-pink marble with finely chiselled gutters to take the rainwater from down-pipes. And although there are no other memorable sights, it's a far from unpleasant town, with a folklore festival in mid-July and a theatre festival in early August.The simplest centre for orientation is the Pont-Vieux, just below picturesque rapids on the River Salat. The bridge points you into the old commercial centre of the town on the right bank, with some marvellously old-fashioned shops, their fronts and fittings unchanged for generations. To the right, past the tiny cathedral, is the typically provincial place des Poilus, its cachet largely due to the faded elegance of the Grand Hôtel de France and the equally old-fashioned Hôtel de l'Union, where you can still stay. The latter's ground-floor café is a splendid balconied period piece facing the riverside Champ de Mars, a wide gravelled allée of plane trees, which provides the site for a big general market on the second and fourth Mondays of every month, and for a regular produce market every Saturday morning. Buses arrive at place des Capots on the left bank of the river. The well-stocked tourist office is inside the Maison de Couserans (Mon–Sat: July & Aug 9.30am–6.30pm; Sept–June 9am–noon & 2–6pm; tel 05.61.96.26.60), on the right bank, in place Alphonse-Sentein. If you want to stay, try the pleasant river-side Quai de Gravier (tel 05.61.66.04.03; under €30), with a decent restaurant serving a full range of menus (from €9.91), or the modern and comfortable two-star La Clairière, at the edge of town on the road to Seix (tel 05.61.66.66.66, www.ariege.com/la-clairiere; €30–40), with a pool and the best restaurant in town (€14–24 for gourmet fare). There's also a campsite at the Centre de Loisirs du Parc de Palétès (tel 05.61.66.06.79), 2km out along avenue des Évadés, with an excellent affiliated terrace hotel-restaurant, La Table de l'Ours (tel 05.61.66.10.31; under €30).
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