The climate
Here is an overview of the climate in the department:
Average temperatures of 15 to 38 degrees celsius in summer, and 3 to 15 degrees in winter.
300 days of sunshine per year. It is one of the sunniest departments in France!
Rainy days: 130 days per year.
And of course, the wind! "It is the country of the wind... I was afraid it would blow me over", noted Stendhal in his travel diary. And for good reason: the wind blows 280 to 300 days a year. Or rather the winds: there is the Cers, a dry northwest wind, hot in summer and cold in winter, and the Marin, a humid southeast wind, called the Autan wind in Toulouse. Not forgetting the Tramontane, the most violent and driest, and the Grec, coming from the northeast, which announces the arrival of rainy weather and the Spanish wind dear to Charles Trenet. The wind is not new! In Narbonne, the Romans raised an altar to the Cers to thank it for its purifying virtues and, in the middle of the 19th century, a doctor from Narbonne, Louis de Martin, assured that the winds of Narbonne had an influence on the health of the inhabitants. Today, this wind is particularly appreciated by windsurfers.
The relief
The massif of La Clape. As surprising as it may seem, a hundred thousand years ago, La Clape was an island. It has kept an island character, with its steep cliffs. Famous for its wines, the Clape's viticultural history began with the Phoceans in 600 BC and continued with the Romans from 118 BC. Its dry and hard climate, the sun and the numerous winds form a generous combination that bathes and sweeps the rocks. This insularity has given it an original fauna and flora - the centaury, a very rare and endemic plant, strictly limited to this place - and which makes the vegetation of La Clape the sample par excellence of the Mediterranean flora. The aromatic plants - lavender, thyme, rosemary, juniper, cistus, honeysuckle, myrtle... - perfume the place. So much so that hikers, botanists and nature lovers in general who enter the Clape are seized by the sweet smells floating in the air, as well as by the beauty of the light and the bewitching stripe of the cicadas. 17 km long and 8 km wide, the massif of La Clape today covers 15,000 ha, of which 7,500 ha are protected and 600 ha classified by the Conservatoire du littoral.
The Cabardès. The Cabardès is a wine-growing region par excellence, full of magnificent vineyards shaped by the hand of man, which the walker can discover at random on his walks. The very particular climate, marked by heavy rains in winter and a torrid sun in summer, shapes the typicity of its wines. The Cabardès also has a remarkably rich flora and fauna.
The Montagne Noire, partly included in the Haut-Languedoc regional nature park, takes its name from the vast dark forests that cover it. Under this vegetal cover, an important fauna and flora flourish. Its highest point is the Nore peak, at an altitude of 1,211 meters. The chestnut tree is the most important tree in the Black Mountain. The cultivation of this pungent fruit once saved the countryside from famine. The small village of Villardonnel dedicates it a festival every year in October. But what makes the wealth of the Black Mountain, it is its waters which are used to feed the Canal du Midi.
The high valley of the Aude. Winding along the river Aude, hillsides, gorges and plateaus offer a great variety of landscapes from the Pierre Lys gorge to the route des sapins. A fiery torrent coming from the lake of Aude at the foot of Carlit, the river progressively calms down before joining the Mediterranean Sea, thus allowing the practice of numerous white water sports.
The Lauragais. The division of France into departments in 1790 divided the Lauragais into four departments: the Haute-Garonne, the Aude for the most part, and on its northern and southern borders, the Tarn and the Ariège. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Lauragais included two arrondissements, Castelnaudary and Villefranche, which were abolished in 1926. After having benefited, in the 18th century, from the digging of the Canal du Midi in connection with Marseille and Bordeaux, the region experienced a strong industrial development in the 19th century in the textile, leather, wood, furniture, tile and flour industries. A land of crops, the Lauragais benefits from its heavy soils composed of stony molasses and limestone banks to produce mainly durum wheat and sunflower.
The ponds
At the beginning of the Antiquity, the pond of Bages was more extended than it is today and formed a gulf on the Mediterranean. As the sole non-urbanized lagoon in Languedoc-Roussillon, it now covers an area of 5,500 ha and is connected to the sea by the grau de Port-La Nouvelle. The islands of Planasse, Aute and Sainte-Lucie, which are under the jurisdiction of the Conservatoire du littoral and contribute to the ecological richness of this natural area, are located on this pond. Biodiversity is at the forefront between the sky and the water permanently swept by the winds. In order to rediscover this privileged site, you can go hiking along the edge of the pond or on the paths, and practice activities such as windsurfing, sailing or fishing... but always while respecting nature.
The coastline
Sea. The coastline is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. The Aude is under Mediterranean influence, these "clear gulfs" dear to Charles Trenet start from the Cape Leucate through La Palme, to continue on the islands of Sainte-Lucie and the beaches of Gruissan. In this marine park of the Gulf of Lion live 1 200 animal species and more than 500 plant species.
Beaches. 50 km of fine sandy beaches, with its six seaside resorts integrated into their environment: Saint-Pierre-la-Mer, Narbonne-Plage, Gruissan, Port-La Nouvelle Plage, La Franqui and Leucate Plage.
Ports. Port-La Nouvelle is a commercial port, a fishing port and a marina, and is the third largest French port in the Mediterranean. Port-Leucate is one of the largest European marinas in the Mediterranean.
