On a shaggy bluff just after Usson-les-Bains, stand the forlorn ruins of the Château d'Usson, allegedly the hiding place of the "Cathar treasure" during the siege of Montségur. Passing its foot, a road winds up through the attractive grey tiers of houses at MIJANÉS – where there's a good hotel, the Relais de Pailhères (tel 04.68.20.46.97; €40–55 with half-board; restaurant from €15–19) – to the pass at the Col de Pailhères, which is at its loveliest in June when a cornice of snow still lines the crests above the small round lake.From Mijanès another road branches up the valley to QUÉRIGUT passing through the village of Le Pla. There's also a thrice-weekly bus (Mon, Wed & Fri afternoons) from Quillan to Quérigut, run by Petit Charles of Carcanières, that passes through Le Pla. Quérigut stands at the head of a slope of neglected terraces, guarded by the ruin of its castle, last refuge of the Cathars who held out for eleven years after the fall of Montségur. You'll find accommodation either at the village campsite or the Hôtel du Donezan (tel 04.68.20.42.40, fax 04.68.20.47.06; €30–40). Above, the forest begins: kilometres of beech and pine, interspersed with lush meadows, stretching to the windy plateau above Font-Romeu. This is the Donezan region, beautiful but the poorest, most neglected and depopulated corner of Ariège.
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