Romans and The Cathar trail..

I was up really early, and set off before 8-30 a.m. in rainy Pyrenees, I was still undecided about remaining in the mountains, but as the rain hammered down, I thought I would drive along to see where I ended up.. somewhere towards Narbonne I was thinking, well, think again !

Late morning I ended up visiting a rather sad state of an Abbey Saint Papoul, where I balked at paying any admission money, and took some pics from outside, and carried on going !..passing a clifftop Chateau/castle ,not quite sure where I was by this time, although I did stop for lunch during another downpour of rain , good timing actually.

I was by this time on the outskirts of Carcassonne, where I have stayed before, the campsite I have stayed on has now become rather expensive, so I went to look at another one, 12kms from Carcassone (along the Canal du Midi), but didn’t like the look of it.. so carried on driving, passing Carcassonne by..and into the Minervois region, I briefly stopped at a windy Puicheric, where the old church stood abandoned, and locked up..right next to the Minervois winery – seems to go well together !, and had a wander round the impressive cemetery.. they must be dying to get in here  (the dead centre of the village) !!

I continued driving, and once again saw some signs for an ancient place…Minerve, so I thought, why not ? and off I went from the main road, high into the hills, and almost at the top of the plateau came to a large car park, where I will have to pay $3 ( so I’m staying !). http://www.minerve-tourisme.fr/ Another amazing find ! A large gorge, surrounding a fortified hill fort and town, scene of a Cathar massacre in 1210, when the Crusaders , led by Simon de Montfort, decided to ‘show them who was boss’, and laid siege to the town, eventually destroying access to the well, and forcing the inhabitants to surrender. The 140 Cathars hiding within the town, refused to recant their beliefs…and were all burnt at the stake …shocking !

the town originated around 850 BC, and those pesky Romans had a camp here in 46 BC for the 10th legion, and it was always thought to be impregnable because of its cliff top buildings..  anyway, another good find on my travels, so I walked round the town, alongside the gorges, with  differing rivers cutting into the limestone land, and up and along the Rue des Martyrs..still looking as it was when the Cathars were taken to be killed, and down to the river, seeing natural stone bridges that the river now pours out of …

and back along the side of the gorge, to Wally for a nice tea of salad,spaghetti an sauce, followed by Dot’s flapjacks …and my last 2 cups of tea (run out of milk !)

So, it’s a nice spot, and I’m staying the night, it’s still a bit windy, but I’ll go and explore the gorges below..