The Morris Men of Little Egypt
In the Languedoc - June 2006
Where we went
and where we stayed
What we actually did, you can start reading about through this link
I freely acknowledge that some of these words and ideas have been collected from a variety of relevant websites, details of which have got lost.
However, in particular, I recommend this incredible site, which has proved invaluable.
Limoux
Traces have been found of Neolithic occupation of the site. Today’s city results from the merging of two earlier, distinct settlements. Although it lay under the jurisdiction of the Count of Razès, Limoux was taken by Simon de Montfort during the crusade against the Albigeois, becoming a crown possession in 1296. In the 14th century, the city was razed by the Black Prince. In the 16th century, it was to be a battlefield for Protestants and Catholics.
Close by Limoux is the Domaine de St George, where John and Maureen run their Chambre d'Hôte business, which we can recommend most highly .
Click on the picture for full details.
Alaigne
The village has been identified as a "circulade" - a planned settlement built on a circular pattern in the Middle Ages - although there is argument about this.
It has a pleasant café.
Alet-les-bains
It is also the birthplace of Nostradamus.
In 813, Alet was the seat of an abbey founded by Béra, Viscount of Razés. The ruins are the remains of a 12th century expansion and include the 12th century Notre Dame cathedral.
The abbey was destroyed in the religious wars surrounding the Cathar purge and have been pretty much untouched since.
Espezel
Before Little Egypt danced there, its only, but very worthy, claim to fame was the Relais de Pays de Sault, which is more than worth the visit.
Go there, even if you don't like duck, yet.
Couiza
At the time of the Cathar persecution, Couiza was besieged and then captured by Pierre de Voisins, who took control of much of the Razès district.
The Voisins family held Couiza until the early 16th Century, when they gave way to the Joyeuse family, from the Ardèche region. It was the Joyeuse family that built the château.
Along with the neighbouring villages of Espéraza and Montazels, Couiza became a centre of the hat-making industry, until that trade's decline, with changing fashion, after the Second World War.
The Château des Ducs de Joyeuse, now a hotel, was the base for a large proportion of Little Egypt's members during their stay in the area.
Revel
(Bastides were fortified towns constructed in the south-west of France during the Hundred Years' War: 1336 -1565).
At the heart of the town the market square is bordered by medieval houses with galleries under the first floors.
In the centre of the square, a large tiled roof supported by a forest of ancient oak pillars and beams is topped by a belfry, once a watchtower. The Saturday morning market, held under the massive central roof and all around the square, brings together people from Revel and from the surrounding villages and countryside, in one of the most beautiful markets in France.
Mirepoix
During the persecution of the Cathars in the Albigensian Crusade of 1209, Simon de Montfort took the feudal château and the family,
who had strong links to catharism, was dispossesed.
Simon de Montfort gave it to his loyal lieutenant Guy de Levis who became Marchécal de Mirepoix.
During this era the town extended from the foot of the château on the right bank of the Hers and flourished, with nearly 2000 inhabitants and many shops and industries.
In 1279, the barrage at Puivert ruptured and caused massive flooding that destroyed the whole village, sparing only the château.
In 1289, Guy de Lévis decided to rebuild the town on the left bank of the Hers.
The town was reconstructed in the form of a bastide, with a large central square and streets in the form of a cross.
The Dordogne phenomenon has begun to appear in Mirepoix: English estate agencies, menus in English, British newspapers and magazines in the newsagents, etc. This charming, peaceful little town is much appreciated by the English, undoubtedly because of its mild southern climate and proximity to the airport at Carcassonne.
Rennes-le-château
It is unfortunate that the village has become famous in the way it has, because its position and its genuine history, reaching back at least to Roman times, are perhaps far more important and interesting than the bizarre tangle of legends, myths and pure lies that have been built around the reputation of the Abbé Bérenger Saunière, priest to the village at the end of the 19th Century. This is not the place to rehearse the stories surrounding him. Stick his name, or the name of the village, into Google and you'll have reading matter to last a lifetime or two.
My only regret is that the debunking of some of the stories has meant that other revelations, which deserve real attention, have been discarded too.
Read "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" and its sister volume, "The Messianic Legacy", and then ask "Why wasn't I told that at Sunday School?"
Espéraza
It sits on the banks of the river Aude, has a museum devoted to dinosaurs, and another of those quintessentially French Sunday markets.
In keeping with Espéraza's history, a small section of our party had their lodgings in the magnificent house of a hat maker (La Maison du Chapelier), now restored by Andy, whose website can be accessed by clicking the picture.
Carcassonne
So much has been written about the place and so many pictures taken, that it would be pointless to try and digest it in such a small space.
For the purposes of our visit's record, it is most important to mention the siege of 1209, as part of the Cathar persecution by the Albigensian Cruasde. Simon de Montfort - father of the English "hero" of the same name - captured the city for Rome and arrested the resident Count, Raymond-Roger de Trencavel. The Trencavels had ruled the area for 200 years and more. Raymond-Roger died in his own prison, and with him died the hopes of the Cathar community of the area, for whom he had had a great deal of sympathy, and with whom he possibly shared a belief.
The bloody crusade, preached by Rome and carried out with relish by people like de Montfort, led inevitably to the Massacre at Montségur in 1244.
In the meantime, it is estimated that 500 000 people died because of their faith.
Aude and Ariège
There are 34 cantons, of which 29 are separate towns.
When we went to Mirepoix, we also ventured into the Ariège: "the department of Ariège nestles in the Pyrenees, next to Andorra, its highest peaks visible from Toulouse.
It is one of the least populated, most unspoiled regions of France, whose inhabitants have held fast to their traditions."
It is estimated that, at the time of the persecution, more than 50% of the population of the Ariège adhered to the Cathar faith. Quite a tradition.
