A New Adventure in France

Continuing our journey slowly towards the far south-west coast for the later part of October, we moved east to the Ariège department which lies to the south of Toulouse and is named after the river that runs through it. Our drive to this region took us past wonderful views of the Pyrénées to the densely wooded hills and mountains of the Ariège. The department is split into 4 ‘regions’ and our base for our stop here was the village of Montgailhard, just south of the town of Foix in the Foix and High Ariège region. Foix is the capital of the Ariège region and noted for its impressive 12th century Château that dominates from a rocky outcrop right above the old town centre. We combined a visit to a Sunday ‘vide grenier’ in the town with a climb up to the château. The Château was a seat of the Cathars and was once the home of Count Gaston Phoebus, one of the great barons of 14th century France. It is the only remaining intact castle in the Ariège, giving wonderful views over the valley from the tops of the two towers you can climb up and are various demonstrations throughout the day of weapons and forges. The historic town centre itself was pretty quiet, as most of these places seem to be out of the main season.

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This area of the Ariège was well known for the production of iron bars from the 16th century and a ‘living museum’ on the edge of Montgailhard, the site of an original forge, celebrates the local trades and occupations of past years. A tall outcrop of rock forms the backdrop to Montgailhard and is known locally as ‘pain de sucre’ or ‘sugarloaf mountain’. A walk directly from the campsite takes you to the top – it’s designated as an easy walk, probably because it’s fairly short, but the last part is near vertical and good for getting the legs and lungs working! The views from the top are definitely worth the effort.

Another region of the department is the ‘Pay d’Olmes and Cathar Pyrénées’ which encompasses some architecturally important sites including the Château de Montségur whose ruins are the site of a former Cathar stronghold, sitting high on a ‘pog’ or rock outcrop at 1200 metres. The current fortress is not the original and dates only to the 17th century. The Cathar history is fascinating and has been an interest since spending time previously in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. In 1233 the fortress that existed at that time became the seat of the Cathar church. Montségur was attacked unsuccessfully in 1241 and was besieged again for 9 months in 1243-44 until it finally surrendered. Approximately 220 Cathars were burned in a bonfire at the foot of the pog when they refused to renounce their faith. Having seen the isolation of the location – the long winding road to get near the site and then the 170m climb to the top – you have to wonder why the Inquisition didn’t just let the Cathars get on with their business and beliefs. No doubt there will be plenty more Cathar sites to see on our travels.

The colourful bastide town of Mirepoix is also this region and is located at the heart of cathar Ariège. Before its conquest by Simon de Montfort in 1209, this land was divided among several lords who embraced catharism. Mirepoix is fairly typical of these towns with the colombage half-timbered houses and arcades, but stands out, and is particularly charming, because of its rainbow coloured houses in the old town square.

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We’re very pleased we dipped in to this region, even if the weather was mixed, but some parts of southern France seem to have suffered very badly with rain recently so we can’t complain. The weather forecast showed a more settled period coming up as we move on further.