See that little bump on the top of this rock? That's Montsegur, in Southern France as we approach on the winding roads through the mountains.
The view from the parking lot. This is as close as you can get by car. The ticket booth is 1/2-way up so you can get a good idea if you'll be able to handle the rest of the climb. CL and I climbed up to the very top (Oliver stayed in the car and read D&D, so we didn't have to listen to him complain).
This is what the path was like ... very rocky and rugged, with stones people have been walking for 1000s of years. You just had to take it one-step-at-a-time. It was a 3-4 hour trek up and down. Think about getting supplies up there--it had to be what you could carry.
This is the view from the top ... I thought I could see Heidi tending the goats, or hear Maria singing "The Hills are alive with the sound of music ....' Sorry, wrong movie ; wrong country.
Snow-covered Pyrenes in the distance.
Inside the fortress. During the Crusades, the the Pope (at the time) launched a Holy War against all "infidels." [Sound familiar to anything happening today?] The Cathars were considered infidels because they kept to themselves, advocated a simple life (poverty, chastity ...) They were Christians, so I'm not sure where "infidel" comes in, other than they worshipped in their own way and were not interested in sending money to Rome.
In the 1200s, the Crusaders seiged Montsegur during a hard winter. The Cathars couldn't move, or get supplies. At the end of it, more than 200 Cathars were burned at the stake here in their own castle, their last stronghold. It's a grim ending, and one that makes me appreciate all the more the Freedom-of-Religion tenant in our US Constitution.
Yes, maybe the Cathars seemed a little strange, but they weren't hurting anyone. They kept to themselves and they built some magnificent castles which I can appreciate today. This kind of history really troubles me , even 800 years later.
The rocky way up to the castle.
Closer to the sky.
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