My Life in Languedoc #6 - A memoir in Chapters

The magical Cathar Castles

In March 2011 I returned to Languedoc a month earlier than my usual date, April Fools Day in order to join a month long residential French course. It was taking place in the little village of Cucugnan on the southern edge of the Corbières where the border of Languedoc meets the Roussillon. The Roussillon was part of Catalonia until the treaty of the Pyrenees signed on November 7th 1659. That put an end to thirty years of war between Spain and France making all the fortified structures ranging along the old border defunct.

These ancient castles had carried out the same function in medieval times, and some of them had played a significant part in the Cathar Crusade. I have to admit until I arrived in Languedoc, I had no idea who the Cathar’s were or that Catharism is a religion; a Christian one at that. Neither had I heard of the Cathar crusade and what happened to followers of this faith 800 hundred years ago. But all that was to change as I was about to be launched into a piece of research that would take me nearly six months to complete.

One evening after class my phone rang. It was fellow a wine tour guide, also called Wendy but operating in Bordeaux. She had a good client who had asked her to organise a week-long tour following the route of the Cathar crusade. It had to include winery visits and good Languedoc cuisine and Wendy wanted to know if I could help? I explained I could do the wine and food part but knew nothing about the Cathars.

‘Look,’ she said. ‘This tour is not until September, its March now, so you have six months to research and plan it.’

I actually relished the idea of creating a new tour and learning about the Cathars so I said yes and the next day mentioned it to my French teacher. She smiled and led me over to the window to point at a castle perched on a mountain.

‘Do you know what that is? Its Chateau Quéribus, one of the ‘Cathar Castles’ so it likes like you’re in the right place to start your research.’

This was yet another example of the coincidences that have followed me through life and I look upon them as confirmation that I am doing the right thing.

My French teacher knew a lot about the Cathars and over the month I soaked it all up and visited Quéribus as well as Chateau de Peyreperteuse close by. I bought several books written in English that explained the Cathars, visited just about every site linked to them and spent many days designing a five-day tour that included dining at some of the best Languedoc restaurants. By the time September came I felt confident that I could do a good job and indeed the clients loved it.

With all the work I’d put into creating this tour I knew a one-day version should be added to my list and so was born The Cathar Castles & Roussillon wine tour. It was an instant success and especially popular with American clients. The day would begin with a long drive from Carcassonne all the way to the village of Maury in the Roussillon which took nearly two hours. I always worried people would find this too long but in fact they loved the opportunity to see more of the landscape and it gave me the chance to tell the story of the Cathars and the crusade against them.

For our first stop I would choose a winery in the village of Maury and this being France, the wine made there is also called Maury. These days Maury wine can be dry but for centuries it was always sweet, and it was that style of wine I wanted to introduce my customers to. If you’ve never tasted a sweet Maury then please I beg you, go and buy a bottle, especially if you like chocolate because it’s the perfect pairing. Ask any chef and they’ll tell you if they’re serving a chocolate dessert the wine to reach for is always Maury.

After eating a great lunch in the village of Cucugnan the rest of the day was spent exploring Chateaux Quéribus and Peyreperteuse both of which take a bit of a hike to reach. Over the years that I ran this tour I was always surprised by how eager people were to walk up the difficult, steep rocky paths but the couple that surprised me the most were octogenarians from the USA. They were a sweet couple who’d been married for ever and had made the trip to Languedoc especially to visit the castles. They were a petit pair and although I was concerned they’d find the hike up very hard, I was even more worried they’d be unable to get down again. But they did it, returning proud as punch and delighted to have achieved a long held dream.

If time allowed, I liked to finish off the tour with a drive through the Galamus gorge. It’s a twisting narrow road, barely wide enough for my 9-seater vehicles to squeeze through and with only a few passing places, meeting a car coming the other way could be quite hairy. I must have driven it at least a hundred times so I was confident but that’s not always the case with drivers you meet coming the other way. On one occasion we came across a lady driving towards us who had got herself into a bit of trouble. Cars were stacking up behind her and no one could move but sitting in my van was a UK policeman. I’ll never forget how he hopped out and started directing the traffic and it wasn’t long before he had the situation solved.

I have so many fine memories of this particular tour which I think became my favourite and in fact, in October 2024 it was the last tour I ran as the owner of Vin en Vacances. It felt very special to finish my reign with this one.