Carcassone and surrounding area?

[Behooven]

We have booked extremely cheap flights but have no idea where to stay!
Any ideas please? We are taking a car so travelling a couple of hours is no problem.

Head for La Grasse. Around 30 mins from Carcassonne. There are lots of ads for rooms if you walk around the town. It is very picturesque. There are lots of English people about who will help you. Head for the market square . Look along the row of shops that back onto the river. There is a ad there for an apartment. Also further away is St Pierre Des Champs.lots of B&B and hotels there.
I know the area well. It is Cathar country and not far from the Coast. Also it is not far to the Spanish border. I love it.

Thank you hole that gives me somewhere to look!

It is Lagrasse not La grasse, sorry. I speak reasonable French but not much use at written French.
The towns near by are Lezignan which is quite a large town with Supermarkets, Aldi, and a huge market, which is on a Tuesday ( I think)
We also go down the coast to Ceret. This is an Artist town and amazingly beautiful. We have also been into Spain to Salvador Dali's house. We stayed over night and then came back. The coast from Pepingnan to the Spanish border has some of the most beautiful beaches and towns. Don't bother with Gruissen or Narbonne.
Lagrasse has a couple of nice cafes and there is Le Fargo in St Pierre Des Champs. It is a Restaurant and Hotel. I have not been as we have accommodation.
I have eaten out in Rebaut and the cafes in Lagrasse. The Bakery in Lagrasse is wonderful. The cafe across the road allows you to buy cakes at the bakery and eat them in the cafe, try something called jesuite. It is a flaky pastry triangular cake with a filling of purée fruit, topped with a layer of crunchy meringue, Mmmm my favourite next to 'flan'

Have a lovely time. I hope the weather is Ok for you. I hope you enjoy the Cathar castles, all ruins but some are still amazing. The Cathar religion was one of a minority that allowed Women to be fully involved.

Thanks, My autocorrect fixed that one when I typed it in. That's interesting about Gruissan and Narbonne as they were on my 'research' list too.
Have you been to Sete? I'm thinking we might split our time between 1 large town and 1 seaside type resort

It's lovely. We rented a house (AirBnB) in Carcassonne for two weeks last summer. Beautiful area, near many other lovely places.

carcasonne itself is gorgeous if you fancy spending a day or two there. Definitely go into the haunted house, stuff your face full of the cartouche sweets and avoid the torture museum at all costs.

Thanks for the posts! I think we are going to have 5 nights somewhere near the sea then 2 nights in the Carcassone area as that's where we fly home from. So maybe Sete or similar plus Carcassone.