Cathar Mini-Break

We're just back from a mini-break of 2 nights away in Cathar country. What a buzz. The Cathar castles being so close was one of the many reasons we liked the look of Céret as a base, but it's taken us nearly two years to actually to get inside them, though we have admired them from afar several times.

On Thursday we hopped in the car and took off north. It was only 75 kilometres to where we were basing ourselves for the Thursday and Friday nights, so we had the luxury of plenty of time to get there. The area we were heading to, the Corbières, is pretty much due west of Perpignan, and we started by visiting the little hermitage chapel of Nostra Senora de Pena. This was a sweet little chapel up a steep path. Steep paths are something you need to get used to in Cathar country!

We hadn't got away early (nothing unusual there!) so next stop was lunch. At this time of year many places are closed, but Le Relais de Corbières was open, and gave us an excellent meal of warming Catalan fare - escalivade and boudin blanc, then roasted pig's cheek and white beans. Joue de porc sounds much better than pig's cheek I suppose. As is often said, the roadside eateries of France do have some of the best food.

Friends had driven the Gorge de Galamus and said it was great, so we made sure of following it. This is a gorge which crosses through the long ridge on which the Cathar castles of Peyrepertuse and Queribus are perched. It is spectacularly narrow, winding, rocky and overhung. We won't look at Hawk's Crag with quite the same eyes again.

Halfway along is a little hermitage glued somehow on to, and under, the rocks of the gorge.

However all these sights were just the appetiser for today's main course, the castle of Peyrepertuse. I'd have to rank this among the best places I've been, anywhere, ever. The location is astounding, being right up on the top of a brutal narrow rocky ridge, with steep drops on all sides. It must have been near impossible to build, and fairly horrible to live in at times, with the tramontane wind blasting it often and viciously. Our timing meant we arrived there with the sun low and giving it a lovely glow against the dark surrounds.

Having said oooh and aaah sufficiently, we headed away a few kilometres to our B&B lodgings at Cucugnan, where our host was very pleasant and welcoming. It is well past the end of the season now, so most of the sights are open with restricted hours, most of the accommodation is closed up, and many of the restaurants too. In our place we were the first guests since October.

Thankfully the next morning dawned bright and clear with just a little low early morning fog to burn off. We set off on foot from Cucugnan on the walk up to our next castle - Queribus. Like Peyrepertuse, these "Cathar" castles were built to defend the then border between France and Aragon, and only later some of them became refuges for the Cathars against the Crown and the church of France. Queribus was the last stand of the remaining Cathars after the greatest part of them were besieged and immolated at Montsegur. As with Queribus, the castle is on a rock, well proud of the ridge, with 360° views from the Pyrenees to the south and the Aude to the north.

The Pyrenees to the south, with wind-formed hillocks in the foreground

Queribus was another amazing castle, though not perhaps quite as stunning as Peyrepertuse. Thankfully the government or the EU is putting money into restoration and conservation, though notably not into interpretation panels. The same places in New Zealand would be rather better described.

The landscape in the area is amazing. It is very harsh, dry, rocky and wind-blasted. The valley below is covered in strange little hillocks which are tear-drop shaped due the the powerful tramontane which blows frequently with great force from the north-west.

On our final morning, we continued our loop to visit the Chateau d'Aguilar, another hilltop castle, but somewhat smaller and less imposing. We found ourselves in the middle of a large hunt. Little white vans parked everywhere, men (always men) in dayglo jackets and hordes of barking dogs. Later on we passed a large group cooking something up, we imagine a sanglier, and passing the time of day at the end of a hunt.

The last stop on this trip was a real disappointment. We thought we should visit the Musee de Tautavel, the so-called European Centre of Prehistory. It was set up in 1979, and it doesn't appear anything has been changed or updated since. Hard to follow, with tired old audio-visuals, and curling faded photographs. The last room was more modern and was better than all the rest combined. We left feeling gobsmacked at how poor it was, considering that its subject, a huge cave inhabited since the beginning of human occupation, was really very interesting and worthy of so much more.

All in all, a most excellent trip, and one will do all over again without hesitation.