First things first - the house is delightful and Petra and Paul could not be more helpful, friendly and obliging. "Coup de Coeur " is beautifully appointed, sheer hard work resulting in a residence which manages to be both comfortable and stylish. This is an old property which has been updated in all the important areas - plumbing, white goods, etc - yet retains every bit of its hard-won character.
We hired a car - as suggested - which gave us easy access to Toulouse (50 mins, easy parking at Jeanne d'Arc) and Carcassone (20 mins) which will the targets for most visitors. Alternatively, the house is a four minute walk from the train station which serves both the above cities and much, much more. We cycled to Carcassonne and then got the train back, for instance. Oh, and the bike hire is reasonable, very helpful and friendly and a couple of hundred metres away.
Eating. Whilst Bram itself does not have a huge array of restaurants, you're only a 20 -odd minute walk from l'Isle aux Oiseaux, a charming restaurant on the banks of the Canal du Midi. Further up towards Carcassonne is la Rive-Belle at l'écluse de Herminis, a quite pricey but tremendous lunch stop.
Petra was also fantastic in recommending places to drive to, though I'll confess we often ate out at lunchtimes (Toulouse, Carcassonne, Mirepoix - all great for this) and then made use of the excellent kitchen at the property in the evening. 350g entrecotes aren't necessary, but hey...:-)
Practicalities are fine; there's a useful Spar shop open from 0830 'till 1930 about fifty metres away and the Carrefour's about a five minute drive.
Places to see I'd recommend: Les Abbatoirs modern art in Toulouse; Les Grottes de Limousis; of course Carcassone la Cité. We didn't make it to Castelnudary until our last day and it's a place that begs for another trip. Great lunch by the river at Brasserie la Cybele - another Petra recommendation as I remember.
But I'll tell you what - just sitting still in this fabulous property isn't a bad idea either.
Great work guys.
Alex