Comments for Tout en marchant http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog About the French Pyrenees and the GR10 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:59:19 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 Comment on Writing dangerously by Gordon Stone http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog/2009/10/writing-dangerously/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Gordon Stone Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:59:19 +0000 http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog/?p=109#comment-14 Can certainly re-iterate your recommendation that this is an excellent book [The discovery of France] - certainly not a light read, travel book but very worthwhile if you have an interest in the background and culture of France Can certainly re-iterate your recommendation that this is an excellent book [The discovery of France] – certainly not a light read, travel book but very worthwhile if you have an interest in the background and culture of France

]]> Comment on The Cathars – religious sect or retail sector? by Jim http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog/2009/08/the-cathars-religious-sect-or-retail-sector/comment-page-1/#comment-7 Jim Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:18:27 +0000 http://www.pyreneanway.com/blog/?p=21#comment-7 I was visiting the castle at Villerouge even as you were preparing this piece. I notice the Cathars on my first visit some 10 years ago. There presence has spread much in the past few years. Overall, I think I am happy to read your marvelous if brief account after I returned from my travels. The castle of Villerouge and a tour of the wonderful scenery of the Corbieres was well worth a day. As I just wrote to a friend: "My favorite moment, however, was on the battlements of the small chateau/castle at Villerouge in the Pyranees, where the last of the Cathar perfected ones was imprisoned and condemned to death. The buildings of the village were all stone with terracotta roof tiles. If you didn't look down into the streets to search for the ocasional car, there was nothing in sight that might not have been there in the 13th century. Clouds came up and a light rain began to fall, cleansing the air and also giving a sense of isolation in this place and in an ancient time - I could imagine for a few minutes that I was in France in the late Middle Ages. It was as close to time travel as I am going to get!" The castle itself had deteriorated over the years and been subdivided among several owners. The people of the village bought it up and restored it to the present condition. They've put together a nice audio-visual presentation on the career of Guillaume Belibaste that encompasses the segneurial relations of the village to the archbishopric of Narbonne. Yes, marketing is going on, but something else is happening too. There is teaching and a recovery of history and reflection on the relations of power and faith. And as production concentrates ever more in urban areas and draws people out of the countryside, Cathar Country reminds us that beauty also has a value to the human spirit. I was visiting the castle at Villerouge even as you were preparing this piece. I notice the Cathars on my first visit some 10 years ago. There presence has spread much in the past few years. Overall, I think I am happy to read your marvelous if brief account after I returned from my travels.

The castle of Villerouge and a tour of the wonderful scenery of the Corbieres was well worth a day. As I just wrote to a friend:

“My favorite moment, however, was on the battlements of the small chateau/castle at Villerouge in the Pyranees, where the last of the Cathar perfected ones was imprisoned and condemned to death. The buildings of the village were all stone with terracotta roof tiles. If you didn’t look down into the streets to search for the ocasional car, there was nothing in sight that might not have been there in the 13th century. Clouds came up and a light rain began to fall, cleansing the air and also giving a sense of isolation in this place and in an ancient time – I could imagine for a few minutes that I was in France in the late Middle Ages. It was as close to time travel as I am going to get!”

The castle itself had deteriorated over the years and been subdivided among several owners. The people of the village bought it up and restored it to the present condition. They’ve put together a nice audio-visual presentation on the career of Guillaume Belibaste that encompasses the segneurial relations of the village to the archbishopric of Narbonne.

Yes, marketing is going on, but something else is happening too. There is teaching and a recovery of history and reflection on the relations of power and faith. And as production concentrates ever more in urban areas and draws people out of the countryside, Cathar Country reminds us that beauty also has a value to the human spirit.

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