 Almost Abstract: Rusty Machinery Parts, Sougraigne We were in the car, in Australia, driving to an appointment last month, when my husband remarked: “You know, it took us two weeks to walk this same distance!”
It’s true – we routinely cover great distances driving without giving it much thought. When I’m walking, on the other hand, I’m acutely aware of the landscape that I am part of. On our walk along the Cathar Trails in the Pyrenees, one of the things we both commented on was how different our walks were each day: the nature of the forests, streams, and even farms and villages, were quite distinctive. Even the smells of the woods and fields and the sounds of the birds changed from one locale to the next.
Trip Notes Day 5: Sougraigne to Granes
We pass the village of Rennes les Bains and on to Rennes le Château with its small castle dominating the surrounding hills. We spend the night at in a chambre d’hôtes in Granes.
Points of interest: Rennes–le–Château
19kms. 5hrs30. Altitude gain/descent: +445m -450m
 No Two Towns Exactly the Same: Sougraigne Village Church  Roughly Worn Iron Crucifix Marks an Old Grave, Sougraigne (Sepia) While it is true that every French village has a church, and every church has a bell, even these were distinctive in their own ways. Every village also has its own crucifix, or several, but no two were exactly alike.
 Fresh Leaves and Fresh Flowers on the Massive Chestnut Trees, Sougraigne One of the biggest differences, as we set off from Sougraine to Granes on our fourth day walking, was that we were finally out of the wind and the sun was warming the earth. We heard cuckoos for the first time: further proof, if any was needed, that we were in Europe – and that spring had arrived.
Our day started along the Sals River in « Le domaine de l’Eau Salée » (“The Salty Domain”). The waterways here work their way through the limestone mountains, picking up salt and minerals before bubbling up at the source of the Sals River, near Sougraigne. At times, the Sals has 60 grams per litre of salt – twice that of the Mediterranean. Historically, this high salt content lead to the establishment of baths (including at Rennes les Bains, where Mary Magdalene purportedly baptised people) and ‘salins’; lagoons for the evaporation of valuable salt.
It is also an area where people live off the track and off the grid: in railway cars, self-built dwellings, and old caravans.
Peeling Paint on a Temporary Dwelling: The Circus has Left Town Modern Rendition or Ancient Remnant of Continental Celtic Traditions? Almost Abstract: The Texture of Sky Almost Abstract: The Textures and Colours of Tree Bark We left the Sals River and forded the River Blanque to visit the Madeleine Spring. According to our notes, there are two springs “surging out of the rock”: one rich in iron, the other sulphurous. I have to wonder how old the notes are; there is no longer much sign of either spring. Our noses found the sulphurous trickle, while the iron was a mere sludge patch across the rock. I’m told it is good luck to bath your feet here – there was enough moisture to make the whole area dangerously slippery, but certainly not enough for a foot bath!
Ancient Graffiti on the Rock Face at the Madeleine Spring La Blanque River: This is our Crossing Point ~ I was more than a little worried, as neither my shoes nor my cameras are waterproof! From the river valley, we climbed up through vegetation that changed again: new forests on the sunny-side of the hill, old farming terraces in the shade and “La Roche Temblant” (The Trembling Rock) towards the top. We came out on a logging road which was bordered by shrubbery, plane trees, chestnuts and pines, and which culminated in modern farming operations.
Textures: Newly Sawn Tree on the Crunchy Leaves of the Forest Floor Layers ~ View through the Pine Cones Colours and Textures: Fungus, Pine Cones and the Forest Floor Light and Shade: La Roche Tremblante The Colour and Texture of New Pine Growth Even the Cows Differed from Place to Place. Wild Poppy: Remembrance of Days (and Wars) Past As a reward for our hard work, we stopped for a real coffee when we reached Rennes Le Château, perched atop its hill. Rennes Le Château hides its own mysteries: one of the most prominent stories is of buried treasures – originally belonging to the Visigoths, the Cathars, and/or the Templars. Other stories concern the Arc of the Covenant, and near by tombs of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene. And so on… I settled for the treasures that the local glass-maker creates.
Charming Housed ~ Glass and Shutters ~ Rennes-le-ChâteauLadder for Rapunzel? The Castle of Rennes-le-Château Sweet Smells ~ Pink and Purple Lilac, Rennes-le-Château Light a Candle for your Prayers, Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rennes-le-Château Colours and Textures: Stained Glass and Wrought Iron, Presbytery of Rennes-le-Chateau Heat! Glass Maker at Work, Rennes-le-Château View back to Rennes-le-Château from above Les Labadous
As always seems to be the case, the last few miles were the longest and slowest, but we stumbled into our lodgings at a reasonable hour, with tired legs and whetted appetites – ready for a hot shower, our evening glass of muscat, and a good meal.
Cheers ~ à votre santé ~ ‘till next time.
Posted in Culture,France,Nature,Religious Practice,Rural,TravelTags: arts and crafts,blog,flowers,France,nature,people,Photo Blog,religion,rural,Sentier Cathare,The Cathar Trail,The Cathar Way,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,walk,work,worship
Pic de Bugarach, Apple Blossoms and Blue Sky If you want to bear witness to what happens as the world comes to an end, then (the story goes) Pech de Thauze, more commonly called Pic de Bugarach, is the place to be.
There are a lot of doomsday predictions around at the moment. The one that concerns this story is not the May 21, 2011 day of earthquakes and judgement and subsequent rapture for faithful Christians, as prophesized by evangelist Harold Camping, which passed without a tremor or a murmer. Nor is it his revised October 21, 2011 ‘end of the world’ prediction.
The date that we were talking about over dinner and copious drinks at Accueil au Village, Cubières sur Cinoble, was the December 21, 2012 ‘Armageddon’ which coincides with the end of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar – the Maya or Mayan calendar.
To be fair to the Mayans, there is no indication they thought that the end of this cycle was a bad thing. The doomsday predictions seem to be a more recent combinatation of new-age theories, pseudo-science, and hoax mixed in with interpretations of religious eschatology. Whatever the reasons behind the predictions, international hysteria is causing a lot of local consternation.
Apparently Bugarach, which can be seen from from Cubières, is no ordinary mountain. For one thing, it is a geological anomoly: the top of the mountain is millions of years older than the bottom. In other words, Bugarach is upside down! Although I assume this to be a fact, after hours on the internet, I could find no actual verification. What is verifiable is that Bugarach, which stands at 1230m, is the highest of the Corbières Mountains, and its limestone is riddled with caves.
Secondly, the mountain is said to have “an enormous energy”, both magnetic and spiritual. I couldn’t verify the belief that Nostradamus thought the mountain’s “vibrations” useful in his work, or that Jules Verne found the entrance to an inner world, which he fictionalized in “A Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. Then there are the stories that the mountain hides the holy grail, and possibly even the body of Jesus, or that it houses aliens. “The internet abounds with tales of the late President François Mitterrand being curiously heliported onto the peak, of mysterious digs conducted by the Nazis and later Mossad, the Israeli secret services…. A visit to Bugarach is said to have inspired Steven Spielberg in his film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind – although the actual mountain he used is Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.”
The current story, which is causing headaches for long-time locals, is the belief that at world’s end, December 21 next year, the aliens residing in the mountain will leave, airlifting a few lucky humans with them. According to one source, dozens of UFOers camped out atop the mountain on December 31, 1999, to see in the previous end-of-the-world at the dawn of the new millennium. While (clearly) that ‘end’ did not happen, this has not dampened doomsday enthusiasm, and the tiny villages of Bugarach, with less than 200 residents, and neighbouring Cubières, which is of similar size, are attracting a new kind of visitor. Property prices have been driven up, and the current infastructure can’t cope with what may become a massive influx of people. The Telegraph (UK) interviewed the mayor of Bugarach and numerous other locals before posting two items (1 and 2) one year in advance of the predicted 2012 Armageddon. A month later, the story was picked up by the NY Times. As our host Françoise, former mayor of Cubières, told us, this has only agravated the problem of alternate-lifestylers moving into the area but not wanting to be part of the local ‘community.’
The mountain may well be magic, but the only ‘energy’ we experienced as we sat around the Cubières dinner table on the eve of our walk around Bugarach was the buzz of local wine, home-cooked food, and lively conversation with an international group of visitors and residents. But, we did pay special attention to the mountain, which was in our sights most of the next day.
Trip Notes: Day 4: Cubières sur Cinoble to Sougraigne
Our walk today is in the very heart of the Cathar country as we walk between the Fenouillèdes and the Corbières. We traverse the Bugarach massif and the Salso Col before arriving in the beautiful small village of Sougraigne.
Points of Interest: Chestnut Forest and Bugarach Village
15kms. 5hrs. +250m -605m
If you are going to circumnavigate half a magic mountain, what better place to start than the local church. L’Abbaye de Cubières sur Cinoble, which was redesigned and rebuilt over the ruins of a ninth century abby, is atypical in that, unlike most European churches, it is oriented on a north-south, rather than an east-west axis.
The Local Church, L'Abbaye de Cubières sur Cinoble, has its own Colourful Stories ~ Including Statues of Jesus, Joan d'Arc, and the The Madonna Looking Through the Tiny Town of Cubières sur Cinoble to the Magic Mountain Into the Woods ~ Lichen and Ivy Approaching the Village of Camps-sur-l'Agly Ivy-Clad Ruins and Modern Village Housing, Camps-sur-l'Agly Rusty Pump at the Doors, Camps-sur-l'Agly ~ Presumably the Nailed Goats' Feet Ward off Evil Spring Flowers Everywhere: Front Doors ~ Back Gardens, Camps-sur-l'Agly Every Small Town a Bell ~ Camps-sur-l'Agly Although the spring sun still held little warmth, the skies were blue and the winds had reduced somewhat, making for a pleasant walk winding through the countryside on stony tracks and small paved roads. We passed large farm holdings and small barnyards, eating our copious packed lunch in the lee of Bugarach and under the watchful eye of the local chickens and sheep.
The Chickens in the Barnyard Come Running to Look at Us Apple Blossom The Hamlet of Pastressis, in the Lee of Bugarach Sheep Watch us Before Running Off, The Hamlet of Pastressis Bugarach from The Col de Linas ~ Traces of Cigar Clouds in the Sky (Many Scientist Attribute UFO Sightings to these Types of Cloud Formations) If Bugarach has a magnetic force, it clearly didn’t work for us. Somewhere after Col de Linas, we lost the trail and ended up working our way down toward the town following goat tracks. A couple of French hikers passed us by, heading the same general direction. When I asked if we were on the path to Bugarach, they refused to confirm it until I pronounced it correctly. You have to love the French, their pursed [y] sound – and their sense of humour! Leaving the town, we lost the track again – not really our fault this time, as all the trees with our way-markers had been cut down by loggers.
Wild Flowers in the Grass Still Life Found: Rusty Bits of Abandoned Machinery Last Views of Pech de Bugarach, before we Cross Over the Col de la Pourteille Wild Violets on the Forest Floor Sougraigne ~ Our Home for the Next Two Nights New Growth: Beech Leaves Overhead Trunk of a Beech Tree Pine, Beech and Oak on The Forest Floor The way down into Sougraigne was much longer than I remembered from our last visit… But once we got there, the hotel was as delightful as we recalled and the food was superb:
Entrée: Croustillants au chèvre en confit d’oignon
Plat: Côte de porc fermier, Bouchée aux champignons et légumes du jour
Frommage
Dessert: Carré aux pommes
Vin compris
Now that is magic! There could be no better place for an extra night and a much needed rest. ‘Till next time!
Posted in France,History,Nature,Para-Normal,Religious Practice,Rural,TravelTags: armageddon,blog,doomsday,end of the world,France,magic,nature,para-normal,Photo Blog,religion,rural,Sentier Cathare,The Cathar Trail,The Cathar Way,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,walk
Twisted Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora) in a Bed of Snow ~ Charlotte's Pass The snows came early this year.
It was only mid-May, and already the tops of the Australian Alps were covered with white. Even down in Jindabyne (934 metres) where we were staying, wet flakes settled briefly on our noses before puddling into cold water. Late one afternoon we tried to drive up to Charlotte Pass, at the top of Kosciuszko Road, only to be turned back by a nice National Parks employee who laughed at our Queensland-plated rental car and asked us where our snow chains were. We had to be satisfied with a view-stop at the Waste Point Lookout and a drive up to Threadbo, where, in spite of grey skies and light flurries, the road was still open.
Against the Backdrop of Lake Jindabyne, at the Waste Point Lookout, is a Plaque Commemorating the Workers who Lost Lives Building the Snowy Hydro-Electric Scheme Junior and Senior Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), Alpine Way, NSW We had tried to get snow chains, but winter rentals are a seasonal business, and with the ski season not due to open for another three or four weeks, none of the rental shops were operating. Snows fell in the Australian Alps in April this year, which is unseasonably early – although snow can fall any time from May to October, significant falls before June (when the ski season usually opens) are unusual. Australia is a relatively flat, dry continent with the alpine area comprising a minute (about 0.15%) proportion of the total landmass. The country’s highest point, Mount Kosciuszko, at 2228 meters, has a bare peak in summer, and the alpine area only hangs onto the smallest patches of snow, tucked into shady hollows, between winters.
Through the Windscreen and into the Snowy Mountains The next morning we tried again and this time succeeded, albeit slowly and carefully, in making it up through the slush, snow and ice to Charlotte Pass and the fabulously gnarled snow gums that line the aptly named Snow Gums Boardwalk.
Snow Gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) are amazing trees. Living between 1500m and the tree line, they have adapted themselves to the extreme conditions of the alpine slopes. Curled against the wind, the snow gums have a bark that changes colour in response to climactic conditions and external branches that slope down to allow the snow to fall off. As one writer puts it: “it is their twisted shapes that makes you stand in awe and feel humbled, moved, and inspired by their resilience and determination”.
A Colourful Snow Gum The Smooth Pale Bark of the Snow Gum Peels in Patches ~ The Colours Change with the Barometric Pressure The Red Bark of a Snow Gum Stands in Contrast Against Snowy Mt Townsend Snow Gums and Mountains ~ The Road at Charlotte Pass The Last Grasses Like Other Kosciuszko Shrubs, Fragrant Mountain Mint Withstands Being Buried Every Year Spencers Creek and the Mountains Still Life ~ Stone and Snow The plants and animals that live here, many of which live nowhere else, are well adapted to the snowy conditions. They are, however, vulnerable to the already-measurable effects of climate change, and it is likely that the next decades will see significantly changes in this unique landscape.
Ice and Snow, Spencers Creek Afternoon Light, Spencers Creek 
Many species will probably be lost entirely within our lifetime.
It’s a shame, isn’t it?
Until next time…
Posted in Australia,NatureTags: Australian Alps,blog,Kosciuszko,National Park,nature,Photo Blog,seasons,snow,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,winter
Madonna and Child, L'Église St Michel, Duilhac Religious expression, or more precisely, the expression of the Roman Catholic faith, is in evidence everywhere in France. Every town has at least one church, with a bell and a cross. On our recent walk along the Cathar Trail, we came across crucifixes, large and small, at every turn.
The Ancient Fortified Centre is the Heart of the Village ~ The Iron Mission Cross (1855) ~ Duilhac Of course, religious expression is not always peaceful – there is often an uncomfortable tension between war and worship. The images above are from the small town of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, which as the name suggests, sits under (sous) the ruined fortress of Peyrepertuse. Called a Châteaux cathares (Cathar castle), Peyrepertuse was a temporary haven for the persecuted Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade in the early 1200s, and so stands as a symbol of their eradiacation in the name of religion. Another of the «cinq fils de Carcassonne», the ’Five Sons of Carcassonne’, the Château de Peyrepertuse was originally built by the kings of Aragon in the 11th Century as part of their border defence system.
The climb to the magnificent 800 meter-high ruins was to be the high point (pardon the pun!) of Day Three of our ‘randonnée pyrénéenne’.
Trip Notes: Day 3: Duilhac to Cubières sur Cinoble
We walk up to the Château of Peyrepertuse, through the unforgettable Galamus Gorges and continue to Cubières sur Cinoble to overnight at the Accueil au Village.
Points of interest: Peyrepertuse Fortress, Galamus Gorges, St Antoine de Galamus Hermitage, and Cubières Village.
15 kms. 5 hrs. Altitude gain/descent: +250m -340m
The trip notes make the day sound like a walk in the park. We thought we’d have a relatively easy time of it for two reasons: 1) unlike the day of our last visit in 2008, there was no sign of rain; and 2) our walk to Cubière would be 4km shorter than the walk to Bouchard, which we had done two years earlier. However, the time, distance and altitude estimates in the notes don’t include the steep walk up to the castle and back or the time spent exploring the extensive ruins.
Peyrepertuse ~ "Citadelle du Vertige" ~ Citadel of Vertigo From a Single Acorn... Snails on the Hill Spring Holly Road into Peyrepertuse The young English couple walking the same direction as us asked if the ruins were worth the extra work, to which my answer was an emphatic “yes!” I’m not alone in thinking Peyrepertuse is one of the most beautiful of the Corbière castles. The ruins, blending into the landscape like an organic outgrowth, are spectacularly situated on the rocky bluffs of the Upper Corbières. It is no wonder these fortresses were considered impregnable; although this one has been bought and sold by rulers and kings, it has never been successfully assailed. Walking over the grounds, I couldn’t help but marvel in awe at what people were able to build and wonder at how difficult life must have been here in the Middle Ages.
"Peyrepertuse": From the Ancient Occitan for "Pierre Percée" or Pierced Rock Arched Stone Entry to the Castle of Peyrepertuse Inside Peyrepertuse Le Bas-Château / The Lower Castle Resembling the Prow of a Ship, Dates to the 11th Century As amazing as Peyrepertuse is, I find it discouraging to descend from it, tired, sore and wind-blown, only to realise that it is already well past noon and we still have most of our 15km walk in front of us!
We battled winds for an hour before finding sufficient shelter to allow us a lunch stop, and then continued through farmlands, grasslands and forests before reaching the highway that would take us to Galamus Gorges.
Flowers on the Trail More Spring Holly "Here's looking at you, kid!" A calf eyes me on Col de la Corbasse. It was late afternoon when we reached the start of Galamus Gorges and the parking lot for visitors, and it was tempting to by-pass it rather than walk the extra descent and ascent in and out of the gorge to visit the Hermitage.
The Hermitage of Galamus was built in the 15th Century by the Franciscans in Honour of Saint Antoine, the Founder of Christian Monastic Traditions But, the descent is worth it. The Hermitage was open and the hermit, though reclusive, was in. We visited the chapel, with its tributes to Saint Antoine, the first Christian hermit (born 251 in Egypt), and bought “hermit cookies”, made by hand with tasty lemon zest by the current resident-caretaker of the site, before tunnelling through the mountain and climbing up to re-join the long, narrow, windy road along the gorge itself.
"Merci" ~ "Thank You" ~ Thanks Given to Saint Antoine the Hermit Every Hermitage a Bell! Galamus Hermitage. "Le Christ et L'Humanité" ~ Christ and the People ~ Galamus Hold onto your Hat! Walking up the Gorge is as Risky as it is Windy. Cars Hope not to Meet any Oncoming Traffic as they can Barely Pass. Like a Fairy Tale ~ Horses in a Field Outside Cubières sur Cinoble.
Once we crossed a bridge out of the gorge and saw horses in a field of apple and cherry blossom, we knew we were almost ‘home’ for the night. Our evening glass of muscat could not be far away! Like horses sensing the barn, we picked up our pace, found our accommodation, and looked forward to drinks and stories over the dinner table.
‘Till next time, à votre santé ~ to your health!
Posted in Culture,France,History,Nature,Religious Practice,Rural,TravelTags: architecture,arts and crafts,blog,Catholicism,France,nature,Photo Blog,religion,rural,sculpture,Sentier Cathare,The Cathar Trail,The Cathar Way,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,worship
Vines, Garrigue and Castles: This is the Corbières I can’t help but love a country that is passionate about food, wine and walking. While ‘walking’ may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of France, the French take their walking trails seriously. The country is criss-crossed by roughly 177,030 kilometres of marked, mapped and well-maintained paths.
The Institut Géographique National (IGN), an official government agency, produces detailed maps in varying scales, and the Féderation Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (FFRP), or ‘French Long Distance Walking Association’, comprised of over 2000 local clubs, maintains the tracks and publishes guide books. With a map, a compass and some notes, it is possible to plan a walking tour (une randonnée) from village to village, staying in local hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, almost anywhere in the country.
Last month, my husband and I spent two weeks eating, drinking and walking our way across a tiny portion (only 0.1%!) of this vast network of trails: we traversed about 200 kilometres of south-eastern France, following the Sentier Cathare (the Cathar Way) through the Pyrenees from Tuchan in Langudoc-Roussillon to Foix in the Midi-Pyrénées. We did it the easy way: we used an agent. We had walking notes in English; our accommodation was pre-booked; and the majority of our baggage was transported for us. Even so, the walk lived up to its ‘moderately strenuous’ rating, with a lot of daily ups and downs. It is an area of natural beauty with a poignant history. Over the next few weeks, I hope to share some of this magnificent region with you.
Trip Notes: Day 1: Arrive in the pretty town of Tuchan for overnight at Hostellerie du Mont Tauch.
I wouldn’t have called Tuchan a ‘pretty town’, but it is in a picturesque location: in the Corbières – a wild, mountainous region where ‘garrigue’, that wonderfully fragrant Mediterranean scrubland, alternates with vineyards and rocky outcrops. Because of our previous experience of arriving on a Monday when the hotel is closed, I made sure we would arrive on a Sunday instead. Train from Clermont-Ferrand to Nîmes; overnight in Nîmes; train from Nîmes to Narbonne; taxi from Narbonne to Tuchan. Easy, right? We packed ourselves a lunch just in case! We arrived early afternoon, with enough time before dinner to consult our ‘Green Guide’ and our host, and set off for a walk/run to the nearest castle: the Château d’Aguilar. Originally built in 1021, the more recent ruins of this pentagonal fortification date back to the 13th century. One one of the « cinq fils de Carcassonne », the ‘Five Sons of Carcassonne’, the castle and its occupants fell to the notorious Simon de Montfort in 1210.
The Ruins of Château d'Aguilar ~ Tuchan, Les Corbières Château d'Aguilar is on a relatively low (321 AMSL) 'pog' or outcrop, but affords a nice view. The garrigue has taken over the castle ruins ~ Château d'Aquilar Wild winds don't deter visitors to the ruins ~ Château d'Aquilar, Tuchan Vines d'Appellation Fitou ~ Tuchan, Les Corbières Wild Roses on the Trail Trip Notes:Day 2: Short transfer to Padern.
Today we walk from the Château of Padern through contrasting landscapes to the fortress of Queribus and from there we continue to Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse for overnight at The Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin.
Points of interest: Padern Castle, ruins of Mollet church, Château de Quéribus, and Cucugnan village.
16 kms. 5 hrs. Altitude gain/descent: +436m -260m
Sounds easy enough, right? But, you have to add in the actual climb to the castle and the time you might want to spend exploring it; in our case, an additional two hours. Nor do the notes factor in the wind: cold, biting 20 kilometre/hour gusts straight off the snow fields higher up in the Pyrenees; winds that threatened to blow us off hills and made a mockery of the clear spring sunshine.
We shared the transfer with a young couple from England who, like us, were setting off to do the whole walk. For them, the day was a piece of cake. Me, well, I hadn’t realised quite how much age and living the good life had caught up with me! I was a little slow on the up-hills, and, with hip and knee problems, a lot slow on the downhills.
Blue Spring Skies at the top of our First Little Hill ~ Chapelle St Roch ~ Padern Château de Padern: Dating back to 1026, Padern belonged to l’abbaye Lagrasse from 1283- 1579. Reconstructed in the 17th century, it now sits in ruins atop a crumbling rocky slope. "Turn left at the beehives." Cottages and Countryside. The Graceful Ruins of the Prieuré de Molhet View Back Over the Hills: Prieuré de Molhet on the First Hill, Château de Peyrepertuse in the Background Succulents Snow in the Pyrénées ~ Château de Quéribus Looming on the Hill The story of the Cathar people is tragic one. They lived across much of Europe from the 11th to 13th century – particularly in the Languedoc, France and in northern Italy. They are believed to have had a dualistic concept of life and to have adhered to an ascetic form of early Christian practice, but historical reports regarding their origins and their actual beliefs are patchy and contradictory. They had the support of many local lords and landholders, and it is likely that they were seen as a political (rather than religious) threat to the hegemony of the King and his church.
What is not in dispute is that they were labelled heretics by the Catholic Church, and wiped out of France by the Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade.
Stairs up into the Château de Quéribus ~ Hang onto the sides, lest the wind blow you away! First mentioned in 1020, the castle of Quéribus sits on the highest peak for miles around, blending in with its surrounds. A Patch of Blue, Quéribus Can you Imagine the Floor Plan? Stone Walls, Quéribus How did they build these things?? Stone Spiral Staircase, Quéribus The so-called Cathar Castles were built, not by the Cathars themselves, but by the French kings to protect their territories from invasion from the south. The Cathars, under the pressure of persecution, retreated to these fortified cities before being annihilated.
The Château de Quéribus, another of the “Five Sons of Carcassonne”, is often called their last stronghold, as many Cathars retreated there after the fall of Montségur. It is thought that most slipped away to other Cathar regions in 1255, in advance of the French army that was dispatched to deal with them.
The Cathars have been romanticised in literature from the 19th century onwards, and it is now hard to see them in their Mediaeval context. Climbing up and down the steps of these castles, however, you can try to imagine the rigours of life in these aeries.
Charming Cucugnan ~ Nestled Amid the Spring Vines and Green Hills From the Château de Quéribus, it’s a steep, rocky descent into the nearby village of Cucugnan, where we were finally able to stop for a very late lunch. Then off again on the long, picturesque, winding walk to Duilhac for our accommodation, evening meal, and some famous Corbières red wine – a suitable reward for a long day’s walk!
Immortalised by Alphonse Daudet: the Windmill of Cucugnan Wild Figs Grow Everywhere Along the Sides of the Trails High up (800m) on the Distant Mountain, Le Château de Peyrepertuse Summons us Home... Giant Meringues in the Bakery in Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse ~ We've Arrived! Until next time ~ ‘santé!’ ~ to your health!
Posted in Architecture,France,History,Nature,Religious Practice,Rural,TravelTags: ancient,architecture,blog,Catholicism,France,Photo Blog,religion,rural,Sentier Cathare,The Cathar Trail,The Cathar Way,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
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just as good. this was a really crisp and nice day
Wonderful as always, a question though…. with all the magical places you go are you inundated by take home trinkets (ie glassware)or do you have a will of iron? I can’t imagine NOT wanting to take little pieces of memory (or as Lance would call it -Junk) home with me.
thanks again for the share…
Ha Ha! You caught us, Signe. We did buy a lovely glass oil and vinegar decanter. Last time we were here, we bought glass calligraphy pens for the girls. Christmas shopping all done – now I need to open a shop. 😉
Glass calligraphy pens hmmm sounds interesting!
Ursula, Very very intresting stuff, especially the Mary Magdalene connection, something i am intrested in ! Great story, John
Thanks for your visit and interest, John. We found the area fascinating. Still, cant wait to get to your part of the world one day! 🙂