Cathar Country

Ok... so the second part of my trip included me going to Cathar country. Technically Carcassonne is in Cathar country but I went further into it to see some older castles. Who were the Cathars? They were a Catholic religious group that believed in the duality of life. There was the good, which was God. And there was the bad, the Devil and all things material. The were ultimately a peaceful group, even vegetarians. The king of France didn't like them because they were too liberal and the Pope didn't like them because they weren't his version of Catholicism so the Albigensian Crusades were started in the early 13th century and thousands of Cathars and non-Cathars were killed.
But to happier things... the only castles that you can get to via public transportation are those in Lastours. According to my tour guide they are the least impressive of all the Cathar castle ruins but I'll let you determine that from the photos.

To get to the ruins you have to hike. It's a very long and very vertical hike. My legs loved that part of it. But then again the views are amazing as you start to approach.
Autumn was a good time to visit as the leaves are changing, making even views that didn't include the castles beautiful.

The castles were originally built around 1000 and now that nature and time have taken their toll on the stone and mortar, it creates a perfect frame for nature's beauty.


After climbing up the darkest, narrowest, and most circular staircase I've ever seen in my entire life I realized the view was totally worth it.

That's where I got that last picture from... you can still see the arches that supported the roof. It's amazing.
Let's take a moment to look at that path. No railings, no warning signs, no nothing. That would never happen in the United States. In France if you slip and fall the hundreds of feet to your doom at the bottom of the valley then it's your fault. Tough. So take a girl who's not so hot on heights plus some very strong mountain winds and it becomes a particularly terrifying hike.

And after another 1 mile walk up the side of the valley to the top of an even taller hill, that's the view I got. I was amazing. At least I had company walking up the hill... more on that later.

Another view from the viewpoint across the way.

This was my company. Tom and Noreen from Cork, Ireland. They're staying in Carcassonne for their vacation this week. We met at the bus stop trying to find the bus to Lastours. They don't speak any French, so I was able to help. Then we walked up to the overlook, back down and chatted for over an hour in a patisserie over tea and apple tart. They were fabulous!

So that was my trip to Carcassonne! Any questions? :)