Roquefixade

We have never visited Roquefixade before, so we decided to rectify that on Saturday 17th of September. As with many of the Cathar Castles attendant villages, Roquefixade is very small, probably fewer than 200 inhabitants. Parking On the outskirts of the village, we quickly found the square and got our bearings. Roquefixade has a limestone escarpment protecting it's northern side and on a spur of that escarpment stands the chateau. Rather bizarrely, the route to the chateau starts by walking away from the village. We headed east along a path at the back of the village, rising gently into the woods. Just outside the village, within the woods, stood a very impressive memorial to the French Resistance of the Second World War.

The monument was erected to commemorate the slaughter of sixteen members of fhe local resistance. They were ambushed at this place in the woods by a patrol of German and German supporting French, in July 1945. Just six weeks before the war ended. You might think that there is no more to it, that's the end of the story. But look closely at the names on the memorial and you will see that the forth name from the bottom has been covered up. Likewise at the top, a new piece of stone has been added so that the number of dead could be changed. I'm fascinated to know why the number has been revised down by one and one of the original names removed. Was it found out later that one of them was a colaborator? I would love to know the story behind that and what effect it had on the village. Whatever the reason, I wouldn't mind betting that it caused divisions that still echo through to the present day.

From the memorial in the wood the path continued along lanes through more open farmland. The direction changed and we headed back, uphill and now in the general direction of the chateau. The lanes hereabouts were lined with plum trees which we just had to try. They were delicious!

Up through the woods, quite open at this point with beech and hazel being the main species. Higher up and box wood became predominent, which can be very clostrophobic and difficult to negociate.

Onto the top of the escarpment looking down onto the village of Roquefixade.

A little further along and we got our first view of the chateau since leaving the village, plus a wonderful view of the whole valley and the mountains beyond.

At this point we were looking for a way down. We did find one, but we weren't convinced it was the right one. It felt more like a cattle trod, narrow, steep and muddy. However, it was a wonderful walk of great variety and as we passed underneath the cliffs of the chateau, we joined a trac

k that led us back to the village square.

Les Orgues D'Ille Sur Tet

On a day when the weather didn't look too promising in Puivert, we decided to drive towards the Mediterranean, where hopefully the sun would be shining. There is an attraction near the town of Ille Sur Tet that had caught our interest. It is an area of strangely shaped rock formations, made out of white sandstone and eroded by the weather.

There is a ten minute walk from the car park up to Les Orgues and along the way there are some sculptures made from various metals. This is one of them, the birds. There was also a dinosaur amongst the bushes.

It's quite an extraordinary sight. This part of the 'park' is known as The Labrynth'.

Looking out from The Labrynth.

And yes, the sun was shining over in this very Mediteranean part of The Languedoc.

As seen from a distance. As the road climbs away from Les Orgues, there is a lay-by with an orientation table and a good view of the strangely shaped rocks. From here it is easy to see where the name came from, as the rocky shapes look like organ pipes.

Puivert

The Moulin Blau is about eight minutes walk from the village of Puivert. It is possible just to walk along the D16, but much more pleasant and safer, to take the footpath through the wood. We used the stepping stones close by the house to cross the river Blau and on the far bank Ken has cleared a path through the wood, up to a track leading into the village. Puivert has a general shop and bakery, as well as three restaurants, including one that specialises in Afghan food. Another has developed from what appears to have been the local petrol station, now being used as a micro brewery and brasserie. Someone there has a good eye for marketing. It stopped me in my tracks, but look carefully at the small print.

The track through the woods brought us to the bridge in the middle of the village with some very old looking properties backing onto the River Blau.

We walked down through the village to the leisure lake, where there were many signs of water activities for the summer months, but now in September, there was very little happening. We walked around the lake and had a coffee at the lakeside bar. The lake is only small and can be seen in some of my photos, but apparently, it used to be much larger. It covered a large area of what is now flat agricultural land, but in the Middle Ages the dam was breached, causing much flooding downstream and total devastation in the town of Mirepoix. It is not known for sure if it was a natural disaster, or if some over enthusiastic farmers were trying to retrieve a bit more land and caused the barrage to give way completely.
From the lake we walked up to the ruins of Puivert's Cathar Castle, though in this case, much of what is on view is from a little later, a 14th century 'modernisation' and extension of the earlier fortifications. The walk up is typical of an approach to a Cathar Castle, steep and rocky and as with many others, interesting for it's flora and butterflies. The entrance to the Chateau ruins is quite an impressive site.

The grand entrance to Chateau Puivert.

I guess they're planning a party?

The view of Puivert from the chateau.

Looking over Puivert and the lake from one of the higher levelzs of the chateau.

Looking to the east from the top of the keep. The agricultural land on the right of the picture was part of the original lake, until the accident in the middle ages. The mountain on the horizon, just above is Pech de Bugarach, one of the highest mountains in the area.

Parts of the interior of the chateau are still used, so some of the rooms are in very good condition. 

The Chapel.

Chateau Puivert has a very accessible feel about it. The courtyard has some reconstruction to show how daily life might have looked in the middle ages and  music from the period playing in the background. Nothing too obtrusive, but it just added something to what was a very enjoyable visit.

A trip to Montsegur

Chateau Montsegur is one of the Cathar Castles in this part of the Languedoc. The Cathars were a Christian sect who were persecuted by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Cathars built their castles as a means of defence against the crusades that had been ordered by Pope Innocent and usually resulted in a siege. One such siege took place at Montsegur during 1244 and when the Cathars were eventually starved out of their hiding place, two hundred of them were burned on a pyre at the foot of the castle. Purely for being the wrong kind of Christian. Another part of their defence was the position of the castle and as you will see if you travel around this area, the Cathar Castles always appear to be on totally inaccessible outcrops of rock, which now translates into spectacular locations.
A short drive from our base near Puivert was lengthened slightly by a temporary road closure at Belesta, but within forty minutes we were at the car park, looking up at the chateau and the beautiful blue skies that surrounded it.

The path leads from the car park across the meadow where the Cathars were slaughtered in 1244. This Cathar cross commemorates the event.

A wall butterfly.

Wall butterfly feeding on a Scabious flower.

A Silver Studded Blue.

The walk then passes through a thickly wooded slope, before opening out onto rocky, limestone, dotted with grasses and low growing shrubs. This area was full of butterflies.

The walk up is quite steep, but the views get better and better as you approach the chateau ruins. After about forty minutes walking you will reach the entrance.

The walls are high and very thick, quite obviously built with defence in mind. The courtyard is quite small and it is easy to imagine how cramped it must have been with four hundred people in there under siege conditions.

A walk around the outer walls reveals fabulous and distant views all around.

Looking down into the woods and gorges of the Ariege.

This view looks out towards Mont Soularac and Mon St Barthelmy. The village of Montsegur can just be seen in the bottom left of the picture.

Around to the back of the Chateau ruins another access point has been built.

Leading into a dark chapel area, with bright light entering through the walls high above.

On the way down we were noticing the crickets leaping around, but whilst they stay still, they are increadibly well camouflaged.

This one maybe stood out a bit more. This is a Saddle Backed Bush Cricket. Quite an extraordinary looking creature.

Montazels and the Maison Des Vignes

We moved from the Moulin Blau near Puivert, to the Maison Des Vignes in the small village of Montazels. It is a quiet, sleepy village on a south facing slope, overlooking Couiza and the river Aude. There is nothing really remarkable about Montazels, it is just perfect in it's ordinariness. Typically French and typically southern. It is just ordinary people getting on with their lives. It does however have a very pleasant view, across to Rennes Le Chateau on the opposite ridge and east towards the ruined chateau in the village of Coustaussa and Mont Le Cardou just beyond.

We feel very at home in Montazels, just as we do in the Maison Des Vignes. It is an old, stone built house that sits on a very minor village road, overlooking an orchard and down into the valley beyond. Sitting out on the terrace now, in the warm September sunshine, it is hard to think we are leaving tomorrow. The house has been nicely preserved and restored and feels like the perfect place to us.

When we haven't been out walking, we have spent most of our time out on the terrace watching the world go about it's business. Watching the lizards scuttle back and forth, the crickets doing apparently nothing much at all and the numerous and varied butterflies flitting about the olives and the fruit trees in the orchard. There is a soft and gentle rhythm to life in Montazels, kept gently in check by the regular chimes from the various church clocks around the valley. Time has little meaning, but it's there if you need reminding.
The village is surrounded by orchards, olive groves and vineyards, beautifully kept and fabulously productive. The walking from the house is not too strenuous, but very rewarding. When we have been in the spring, the flowers, particularly the orchids are just wonderful to see. Now in the early autumn there are still wild flowers, but not in profusion as they are earlier in the year. Now there is the harvest, of grapes, figs, peaches, apples, pears..... There is interest in trying to photograph and identify all the different kinds of butterfly and there's the walks, just beautiful in there own right. So much here to see and to learn about, beit natural history, prehistory, or just history. The whole area is steeped in it.