Family Time in Limoux, France April 2012

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Limoux France, 17 April 2012

What great packing snow! Look out! It’s a snowball fight! Atticus and Roman are the snowball making machines, and we are trying to keep pace. Luckily the small boys’ aim is not very accurate and neither is ours, so the wet, melting blobs are missing their mark more times than hitting us. Nevertheless, this is the most fun we have had all day.

We hadn’t counted on snow in mid-April in the south of France. It has been cold and rainy, but not cold enough for snow in Limoux, where we are staying for two weeks. But Limoux is close to the Pyrenees and we have driven up a road that announced col ouvert (pass open), to the foot of a single tower of stone with the ruins of Montségur castle perched on top at 1,208 M. Ray and I remembered climbing the steep hill to Montségur castle ten years ago, after a hard day of bicycling the surrounding hills. A climb is not on the agenda today. The paths are covered in snow and we are not prepared. One car parked beside ours disgorged an older couple, dressed for the weather, with sturdy hiking boots and walking sticks, ready for their climb to the top. We can only wish them a good walk and resume our snowball game. It doesn’t matter, we are having fun.

Ray and I arrived at Toulouse Airport the previous Thursday afternoon, collected our rental car and drove 1 ½ hours to Limoux, where we had rented a house for the next 9 days. “Les Lauriers”, a four bedroom house owned by a BC Canada couple, proved to be more than adequate. Saturday brought our daughter Erica, her husband, Andrew Auerbach and their two boys, Atticus and Roman. The previous two days had been cool and rainy but Saturday promised better weather. That turned out to be merely a teaser.

Sunday dawned cold and rainy, once again, but we were determined to explore some of the region. Erica found a reference in one of our guide books to an interesting cave that would be good to explore, no matter what the weather. We drove off, up the scenic roads to the foothills of the Pyrenees, stopping at a turnout to enjoy the view, now partially shrouded in rain clouds. We came to the turnoff for Puivert Castle, one of the series of Cathar strongholds in the 12th and 13^th C. The Cathars were considered to be heretics and a threat to the church in Rome. Their fate was to be eliminated in siege after siege in the 13^th C. All that remains are the ruins of numerous castles, perched on the highest hills in the region. We decided a visit to Puivert was the perfect driving break. We turned off onto a rock filled road snaking up the hill to an ominously empty parking lot. A sign pointed the way to the castle. We followed a rough horse path to the base of Puivert Castle. At the entrance was a single red motorcycle and a sign,“beware of dogs”. Two large Husky dogs announced our arrival. We made sure the two boys didn’t decide to find out if the dogs were friendly. A sign on a closed entrance booth told us the castle was not open for viewing 1 May.

We had no option but to return to the car and head downhill. We never did find our way to the promised cave exploration. I spied signs pointing the way to Montségur, not too far away. Away we went, following more scenic roads through the foothills of the Pyrenees to the wintery wonderland surrounding Monségur.

It started to rain again soon after leaving Monségur. We had entertained thoughts of stopping in Mirepoix, reputed to be one of most beautiful towns in France, for hot chocolate, but no one relished the idea of racing from a warm car through cold rain to a café. Instead, we kept going and didn’t stop until we returned to the house, where hot chocolate was brewed in short order. Our wet gloves and shoes were laid by heaters to dry and we laid plans for our next adventure.

Castles in the Snow

Limoux, France