The Cathars

The Midi-Pyrénées was home to the Cathars, a religious sect that believed the world was too awful to be the work of God. During the first part of the 13th century, the Cathar religion spread throughout the south of France. The pope was furious and set his military might against the "heretics". The bloody crusades annihilated the ancient civilisation and ruins and legends are all that survive of a world of troubadours and courtly love, of tolerance and true democracy. We went through the Cathar castle at Foix, where people started settling at the time of the Gauls. The Counts of Foix were faithful defenders of Catharism and the château managed to withstand horrific attacks by the catholics. The castle's amazingly well maintained and you get an enormous sense of history when you stand on the towers and think about who's been there before you and what's gone on there.

The most spectacular ruined Cathar castle's at a place called Montségur - we drove up there but it was so misty that we decided it wasn't worth the walk up because we wouldn't be able to see anything!