A Morning To Remember...........

Above: View inside Montsegur Fortress

The mornings can be cold at Easter time, even in southern France. We woke up at around 8 and I could feel the fresh, damp morning air in the caravan. Driving around until sunset we struggled to find a place to stay, eventually our luck changed when we spotted a sign reading “camping 2km”, it was more like 5 really but we didn’t complain as I pulled into a driveway halfway up the mountain where our camping field and a farmer’s cottage stood, with a breathtaking view across part of the Languedoc region. Within minutes we had a key to one of the available caravans complete with its own BBQ and coal left for us to cook on.

I had read about Montsegur years earlier, a mysterious fortress which has an amazing and dramatic history, and is also associated with many myths and legends, including of course the holy grail. This was the place where the Cathars fell; it was their fortress back then. ‘Catharism’ was a religious movement that had flourished in the 13th century, but was always heavily suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church. Eventually, during the Albigensian crusade late on in the 13th century, the last true believers were cornered and under siege at Montsegur, they held out for an unbelievable 9 months in this tiny fortress without surrendering. Eventually they fell of course, and historically at this date, the movement was recorded as over.

The mist on that Easter Sunday morning was thick; although you could feel that the sun would eventually burn through and unveil another glorious day in this beautiful part of the world. It was only a 10 minute drive from our campsite to the bottom of the peak we wanted to scale. Usually the fortress was visible from the road, but my vision was only around 200 yards, only the steep, winding road told us we were in a mountainous region. The path up to the top was damp and muddy, mainly from a small shower the previous night and the morning dew. On the steepest sections you had to crouch low and forward and pray you didn’t slip, although this was a well used path, and our route up had been forged out nicely by thousands of previous hikers. I will never forget that walk up, I couldn’t see more than 5 yards in any direction as the mist thickened and seemed to cling to the mountain, not wanting to let go. It was always a gamble, particularly at this time of day, we may reach the summit and not be able to see a thing, not even the fortress, but of course we carried on regardless, just hoping our luck was in.

It was still too thick at the top, for about half an hour I thought the elements had beaten us, and this magical place was not going to be revealed. We walked about the fortress exploring what we could and waited. Then it all happened so quickly, I could see in the air the skies beginning to clear, mist racing across the sky so quickly, it felt like a drum roll before the big event. Within a few seconds the whole panorama simply came alive and stunned us as we looked on with open mouths. You knew there had to be a view to die for up here, it was just going to be a matter of time. I suddenly remembered I had my camera in my pocket; I fumbled about for it and captured the moment, and yes, it was all worth it, a magical place that simply went above expectation.