Cathar Country
Trip Start
May 01, 2008
1
7
43
Trip End
Jun 24, 2009
Where I stayed
Marc and Shiu
Carcassonne,
France
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wildflowers in France
May is definitely the best time to visit France. All the way along the sides of the roads there is a profusion of wildflowers, different in each area we go to, but everywhere, the bright yellow of the Broom and Gorse, contrasts with the other flowers, mostly purple and pink. From a distance it looks like wattle. I can see why Broom is so named, it actually looks like an old straw broom with little yellow flowers all along each straw. The bright red poppies have started to appear in the last few days and you see field after field of them, especially surrounding the grape vines which are very prolific in the Languedoc region which is where we are now, (or where we were when I wrote this). And that reminds me, we have been buying wines at the Supermarkets for between 1 and 2 euros a bottle, and they are very nice
Busker at Carcassonne
. I don't see how Australian wines can compete at those prices. By the way did y0u know that Howard's Hash House Harrier name is "Long Doc", so he feels quite at home here!We bought a cheap esky and a thermos early on and have our lunch en route somewhere- usually just fresh bread, olives and cheese and some wonderful terrine we found and bought heaps of (at Aldi of all places!). There have been some stunning views, but the best was today when we stopped above the ancient double walled town of Minerve. Imagine a cluster of rough pinky beige stone houses, all with terracotta roofs, and many with roses growing up the outside, built in a circle on top of an island of rock between the gorges of two rivers (Briant & Cesse), one of which has cut its course through two enormous tunnels known as "Ponts Naturels", overlooked by one remaining tower of the original 11th century castle and a large stone church from the same era which holds a marble altar that is purported to be dated to 456AD. You enter over a long narrow stone bridge, and the surrounding hilly countryside is covered in vineyards as the ground is stony and arid producing excellent fruity wine. Minerve was considered to be impregnable, and was occupied in the 13th century by the Cathars who were a Christian sect that the Catholic Church did not approve of and aimed to eradicate. In 1210, Simon de Montfort, the military chief of this Crusade, laid siege to the town and cut off all supplies including water so that they were forced to surrender. When they did he ordered 140 Cathars to be burned at the stake as heretics because they refused to convert to Catholicism. Hmmmmm nice guy!!!! Another in the same vein as Richard the LionHeart!
Yesterday we stayed overnight at Carcassonne which was a major city of the Cathars and the old "Cite" with its double walled and turreted fortress is now one of France's major tourist attractions
Minerve
. From a distance it is the epitome of the fairy-tale medieval town and knights in armour and ladies in costume stroll the streets or put on pantomimes for the thousands of tourists who flock here. We saw one chap dressed like Aladdin who did some amazing acrobatics with a collection of glass spheres ending up with three balanced on top of his head. We stayed at a B&B and were only the second guests of a delightful couple, he a retired school teacher who spoke excellent English, some Spanish and a smattering of Malay,as well as his native French, and she from Taiwan (where he worked for some years) speaks a couple of Chinese languages as well as English, French and Japanese. Puts us Aussies to shame!!
