Back in May 2018 my sister and I were in France for a month, with only one full week on the Camino.
Fast forward to 2020. Both Connie Mehmel & I were going to celebrate our October BDs in France…although planning this in September on account of better weather, longer days, and work schedules. Heather Whitaker was part of it from the get-go.
What we didn’t plan for was COVID 19. Everything was put on hold for a year. We adapted and modified our plans. It became a 2-week only trip, with minimum contact with people. Requirements for travel abroad kept changing, We hung in there, complying with every demand. Two weeks before the trips, we still weren’t sure we’d be going on account of the 2 weeks’ quarantine upon landing in France.
And then, it was lifted!! We didn’t have to cancel anything and battle with travel insurance or airline company. As one would have it, it was DELTA.!
We ended up being in various forms of transportation for 6 days total, going and coming back, and we walked exactly 6 days on the Sentier Cathare. From Quillan to Tuchan = 143 kilometers, or 88 miles, 14.8 mi/day. Maps to follow…
Le Sentier Cathare follows the old frontier between the kingdoms of France and Aragon, from the Mediterranean to the Pyrenees.
There are roughly 200 kms distributed in 9 stages in the department of Aude and 3 in that of Arriege; with landscapes changing from the coastal (Mediterranean) to the hills and canyons cut by rivers in the interior. The route passes by the many castles which were built to defend the frontier between France and Aragon. They are fortresses, mostly in ruins, which never belonged to the people we call the Cathars; they provided a refuge for those considered “heretics” by the Catholic church and persecuted during the Crusade against the Albigeois, in the 13th century.
The pictures of our journey will give you a sense of a trip that was rich in discovery: cultural, historical, and personal.