On the Peyrepertuse Ridge, Cathar Way

“Threading its way through dramatic gorges carved out by tumbling mountain torrents and traversing a patchwork of oak mantled hills, Alpine pastures, dense pine forests, lush meadows, rocky plateaux, and regimented vineland, the Sentier Cathare stitches together drovers’ trails, logging tracks, smugglers’ paths, and winding country lanes to link some of the principal sites associated with the dissident Christian movement from which it takes its name.

Roquefixade Castle, Cathar Way

Above all, we visit a succession of castles, each perched more improbably than the last on craggy peaks, castles whose evocative ruins have proved so compelling that they have conspired with history to stimulate our collective appetite for quests, mysteries and quixotic exploits.

This is a protean path, offering something for everybody, from the lover of wild

places to the aficionado of old stones, from the hearty athlete looking for a challenge to the New Age mystic seeking enlightenment, but whatever your motive for embarking on such an adventure, walking the Sentier Cathare is a hugely rewarding experience, in the course of which petty cares slip away, replaced by a headful of  mountains, meetings, and vistas, and walking becomes a way of being, so that come the end there is every chance that you will want only one thing, to turn round and do it all over again.”

Rue Principale, Ginoles, Cathar Way

~ these are the inspiring words of Charles Davis, author and researcher of wonderful walking, including The Cathar Way, a 250 kilometre trail crossing the Languedoc region of southern France from the foothills of the Pyrenees to the shores of the Mediterranean.

Want to know more? Take a look here: http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/catharway.htm