Mirepoix - bastide town in the southwest

On our way from Montségur we found the one closed restaurant after the other.  It got later and we got hungrier. Eventually we've managed to find a supermarket that was open in the afternoon and we bought ham, baguette, water and chocolate eclairs for a picnic.  We stopped at a lake where Julie & Cedric's friends go and kitesurf at times.  There were a number of boats and apparently get busy in summertime with watersport. I think in summertime it must be beautiful.  We sat down on a wooden picnic bench and enjoyed our lunch, while looking at the snow-covered Pyrennees in a distance.

After refueling our bodies, we left to Mirepoix, a village that also enjoyed strong Cathar support.  A flood eventually destroyed the original village.  The new village was built (ca 1290) during the period when a lot of bastide towns were built in the southwest of France, although some of the building you'll see only dates from the 15th century. 
A bastide town is a fortified town - these were all built during the 12th century in the southwest of France.  It is normally centred around a square with the market from where you'll find streets into different diretions.  Mirepoix is described as the most beautiful bastide town by some, by others as a not true bastide town, but based on the construction principles of a bastide town.  Whatever the case may be - it is a beautiful town and when we have arrived there, the square was a buzz of people packed around tables enjoying their coffee at the coffee shops, while the gift shops around them looked very tempting to visit and spend some money!  It is a place I would love to visit again, in spring or summer!