Costa Brava in Black and White

A few unpublished pics from our time in Costa Brava and one from France. Again, these pics seemed to work best in black and white.

Some happy, drunk or crazy soul in Begur, Catalonia.

Me in the Med. I love salt water...

Playing pirates at De Begur Castle, Catalonia.

Peter as King of Catalonia--the flag is yellow and red.

Peter 

Me on the Costa Brava.

Peter at La Reira.

Inside Queribus Castle, France.

The castle of Peyrepertuse—Duilhac, France

The village of Duilhac used to be the centre for olive oil production in the valley—the valley was once filled with olive trees, now, it is filled with grapes for vin. The town itself has been occupied since Roman times 1^st C BC.

The Castle above the town is Peyrepertuse and was first mentioned in written history in 1070 AD.  It towers 800 m above the grape vines on limestone cliffs. Peyrepertuse is also a Cathare castle. It’s Cathare occupants falling to the French Crusades in 1255 when their water supply was cut off and dysentery ensued.

 It was an active castle until 1820 when the fleeing nobles sold it to France. It is actually two castles, a lower castle and a higher castle. King Louis (Saint Louis) of France ordered the construction of steps to the higher castle in 1242.

We walked up those very steps to reach the upper castle. One can see its neighboring Cathare castle, Queribus from both Peypertuse castles.

One of the most fascinating things I discovered in the castle was a toilet. Yes, the very first toilet I have ever even heard of in a 11^th C castle—history books never mention such things. The seat is made of stone and it opens to an alarming drop with mountain shrubs far below. A round bottom was necessary as one would not want to slip through that toilet seat!

The Cathare castles, to this day, remain shrouded in mystery. Some believe Montsegur Castle contained the Holy Grail. In 1242 AD, 2 men (one, the Deacon of Toulouse—which was the most influential Cathare city at the time) were seen carrying the treasure from the castle.

We spent a magical and an unbelievable morning exploring The Castle of Peyrepertuse.

Peyrepertuse Castle

Climbing up to the castles through the trees.

Inside the lower castle front entrance.

The lower castle.

An 11th Century Castle toilet

The toilet seat--the bars were on placed recently so small-bottomed tourists don't slip to their death.

View of entire toilet room.

View of the Pyrenees through a castle window.

Still inside the lower castle.

Queen Mix Hart.

King Arthur.

Lower castle interior.

Inside the upper castle.

Rooms inside the upper castle.

I asked Peter to photograph me in the room behind me but as I entered I discovered something with black wings flying about: either a very large black moth or a small bat.

Queen of the castle.

View of upper Castle from lower Castle.

The Pyrenees Valley below castle.

Climbing the King (Saint) Louis steps.

View of lower castle.

Pausing on King Louis steps--view of lower castle behind me.

Peter on the King Louis steps--the other side of the railing is straight down 800 m.

Entering the upper castle.

800 m from the valley below!

King Louis steps leading to the upper castle--yes, the ones we climbed and paused for photo shoots on!

The town of Duilhac below the castles.

View of lower castle from upper castle.

Upper castle window seat.

The Castle of Queribus- Cucugnan, France

We left Spain for a night in Perpignon, France. But alas, on our arrival we found Perpignon to be the most annoying city we've ever been to. There was absolutely NO WHERE to park the small black rental car. We parked it right on the sidewalk for a moment to check out Hotel France and discovered Hotel France had no parking so we'd be unable to stay there unless we found our own--impossible. So we decided to find a Wi-Fi cafe to at least research where to stay or at the very least how to exit Perpignon and move on to another town--again impossible! We drove around that hot, busy city in circles for 2 hours until we decided just to try and find our way out ourselves and head to destination unknown. Low and behold a Wi Fi sign and guess where? At a McDonalds of all places! Saved in France by Rotten Ronnie's. It was a blessing. We got on the net and plotted our course to the Pyrenees to see a Cathare Castle.  And so our adventure begins...

The hot dry Mediterranean grass and shrub covered hills turned into high green mountains and a lush valley full of vineyard after vineyard. The highway turned into a narrow road with no traffic. We rolled down the windows and drove in awe through he most beautiful, quiet French valley. The only sound was the very loud hum of a leg rubbing insect.
And then, to our utter amazement, high in the craggy mountain tops we spotted what we thought looked like a castle. Impossible! How could anyone build a castle at that craggy elevation? It turned out to be our first Cathare Castle: Queribus. It took super narrow, cliff lined mountain roads to climb up to it. I was terrified, if one met traffic, it was touch and go as to whether or not we'd be bumped off of the cliff.
Climbing to the Castle in the evening sun was one of the most amazing life experiences I have ever had. It was thrilling, beautiful and terrifying all at once. Peter and I could not believe our eyes or our feet. It truly was a slice of heaven on earth. Once we reached the castle, the steps up were at times sloped and slippery. We climbed down long, dark and narrow castle corridors, up spiral staircases into the tower and were completely awe struck by the unbelievable views of the French Pyrenees and lush valley below.

The Cathare Castles are from the tenth-eleven Century. They were refuge for a Christian religious group that did not follow Catholicism--the Cathares or Albigense. The Pope (Innocent III) viewed them as the greatest threat to the church and in 1208, he began Europe's greatest army against them--the Crusades. [The Cathares were vegetarian, abstained from carnal pleasures, practiced total indeference to material possessions and believed in reincarnation ( a little bit Buddhist if you ask me)]. The last known Cathare was burned alive in 1321.

Enjoy our journey as we discover Queribus Castle, near the French town of Cucugnan.

*Castle Queribus is first mentioned in 1020 in the Count of Besalu's testament. Queribus was the last Cathare stronghold to fall to the French crusades in 1258.