As Clair previously alluded, we were not content with just one castle and made our way down south of Carcassonne, to a region of Languedoc where the French king built a number of fortresses to protect his realm from the Spanish. They were also used by the Cathar's (a Christian movement directly challenging the Catholic Church in Southern Europe between the the 12th and 14th centuries) as shelter after Pope Innocent III attempted to rid Languedoc of Catharism altogether around 1210AD. The area is considered one of the last Cathar strongholds.
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Château de Quéribus
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The five castles in the region are often called the cinq fils de Carcassonne (five sons of Carcassonne): Château de Quéribus, Château de Termes, Château de Peyrepertuse, Château d'Aguilar & Château de Puilaurens. Of which, we visited the first 2 and saw the 3rd, Very impressive given they have been built precariously atop the hills. They can be seen for miles around and each one is within distant sight of the other, reminding me of the mountaintop beacons between Gondor and Rohan in Lord of the Rings.
The weather had finally picked up. After a drizzly morning the sun finally broke through and by the time we reached about 700 metres above sea level and Château de Quéribus, we had glorious sunshine although we were also treated to another French weather feature known as 'The Mistral'. A strong wind which brings about the clear and fresh weather but maintains winds of up to 90km/h. Being as high and isolated as it was, this made the hike up to castle rather breezy as our model here demonstrates with her 'windswept' look. Some of the strongest winds I have experienced, to the point where I had to hold on to the railing quite tight to avoid heading back down the way I had just come!
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| Château de Peyrepertuse from afar |
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| The keep of Château de Quéribus |
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| Château de Termes |
Having had quite our fill of castles, it was time to be on our way up the coast to out next destination; Nimes.
