The Besieged and the Beautiful-Languedoc
May 8th, 2010, 07:33 AM
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The Besieged and the Beautiful-Languedoc
Cathar country in today's New York Times Travel.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09...Languedoc.html
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09...Languedoc.html
May 8th, 2010, 08:25 AM
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Yes, thanks cigalechanta. I'll be saving the article. My trip isn't until September and I'm been busy reading about the Cathars and the region. One book I would recommend to anyone interested in this topic is <I> Cathar Castles: Fortresses of the Albigensian Crusade 1209-1300 </I> by Marcus Cowper. It's also small enough to take with you and makes an excellent guide.
<I> Despite the great gulf of centuries, the Cathars still haunt the timeless highlands of Languedoc </I>
Stephen O"Shea in <I>The Perfect Heresy</I>
<I> Despite the great gulf of centuries, the Cathars still haunt the timeless highlands of Languedoc </I>
Stephen O"Shea in <I>The Perfect Heresy</I>
May 8th, 2010, 09:49 AM
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This seems an appropriate place to share a lovely experience we had in Beziers some years ago.
I was sitting in front of a taxi taking us from the train station up into town. (We were on a self-drive canal trip.) There was a political demonstration of some type going on and I asked, in my best high-school French, what was going on. The driver explained that students were demonstrating for more Occitanian studies.
When I turned to repeat the explanation to my wife and the couple with whom we were traveling, I mentioned that it appeared the students had not forgiven the French for the sack of the city in 1209. The driver, who had been diffident about his English, which was far better than my French, then expressed surprise about my knowledge of the Albigensian Crusade. After a few moments of conversation, he asked if we were in a hurry. When we said we were merely wishing to visit the town and had no time schedule, he insisted on giving us a tour of the town, turned off the meter, and spent 15 minutes driving us around the town, ending in front of the Cathedral of St. Nazaire. In lieu of the large tip which he refused, he agreed to share a cup of coffee with us in a nearby cafe.
Not only do the Cathars still haunt the Languedoc, they continue to welcome visitors.
I was sitting in front of a taxi taking us from the train station up into town. (We were on a self-drive canal trip.) There was a political demonstration of some type going on and I asked, in my best high-school French, what was going on. The driver explained that students were demonstrating for more Occitanian studies.
When I turned to repeat the explanation to my wife and the couple with whom we were traveling, I mentioned that it appeared the students had not forgiven the French for the sack of the city in 1209. The driver, who had been diffident about his English, which was far better than my French, then expressed surprise about my knowledge of the Albigensian Crusade. After a few moments of conversation, he asked if we were in a hurry. When we said we were merely wishing to visit the town and had no time schedule, he insisted on giving us a tour of the town, turned off the meter, and spent 15 minutes driving us around the town, ending in front of the Cathedral of St. Nazaire. In lieu of the large tip which he refused, he agreed to share a cup of coffee with us in a nearby cafe.
Not only do the Cathars still haunt the Languedoc, they continue to welcome visitors.
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