We retraced our route to St Girons and took the main road to Foix, a busy town. The aire was in an industrial area which didn't appeal, so we continued to the pleasant aire at Montferrier, in wooded hills, once a centre for talc mining with thirteen factories, but now an almost deserted village. The next morning took us past nearby Montségur, the last Cathar stronghold on a high rock, (we wondered at the effort required to build a castle so high up), and a river at Fontestorbe, which apparently disappears every hour or so in the summer. We then came across the small village of Camon, one of the Plus Beaux villages, with roses and hollyhocks everywhere, before reaching Mirepoix with its colonnaded town square, for lunch.

After a frustrating afternoon's driving, calling in to a couple of towns to find the aires closed, we decided to head for Camping de la Cité at Carcassone. The aire adjacent to the campsite was being extended but we chose to stay on the campsite for the night. The carpark nearest the cité charges €20 flat rate for motorhomes even for just 15 minutes. We walked about a mile to the cité, and wandered around  the ramparts and narrow streets, but in the early evening the museums had closed and nightlife, mainly restaurants, hadn't started yet so it was rather quiet - which suited us.
The next day we headed east to the marina at Homps on the Canal du Midi, where there was free motorhome parking, and pleasant walks and cycling. We then drove north to the small Plus Beau village of Minerve, set on a rock with a ruined castle tower, surrounded on three sides by a deep gorge. Shortly after leaving we heard motorbikes and stopped to watch a group of riders performing amazing tricks and loops over high ramps in the valley below us.

We decided to head for the coast, and drove, on ever busier main roads to Narbonne, where the traffic was horrendous. We eventually found a route out on quieter roads to the pleasant coastal town of Gruissan, and headed for the aire at Gruissan Plage, by the large sandy beach and ugly chalet complex.

Having spent a night by the Med, we drove along to the sprawl of low-rise resorts of Narbonne Plage and St Pierre sur Mer, then turned inland to Béziers, another large busy town and on the free A75 autoroute to Pézenas, where we discovered the interesting old town centre.
After a pleasant wander around for a couple of hours, we returned to the autoroute for a short distance to Clermont Hérault, and the aire at the campsite at Lac du Salagou, where we had stayed a few years previously. Having paid the overnight fee, we walked along the lakeside and discovered that motorhomes could park free overnight at some of the carparks! A drive around the lake the next morning took us to Celles, a deserted village evacuated when the reservoir was built, but someone must have miscalculated as it was in fact several metres above the water level.