The
climate of this region is naturally similar to that of neighbouring Provence:
very low rainfall, and reliable sunshine during the late spring and summer,
with daytime temperatures up to 35 degrees C (90F), interrupted by dramatic
thunderstorms from late August onwards. "C'est le pays du vent", the
locals will tell you, meaning "It's the land of wind", but Languedoc
does not suffer the mistral which batters Provence, blowing so hard and so insistently
it is said to drive people mad. Instead, it boasts not one but three winds:
the tramontane from the Pyrenees, harbinger of clear skies, the marin from the
Mediterranean which brings humidity and rain, and the cers, from the Atlantic.
In winter, the temperature rarely approaches freezing point, although the tramontane
sometimes makes it feel like it. Snow is a rare enough event for even a sprinkling
to excite comment and provoke accidents as drivers unused to dealing with it
slither into roadside ditches.
The
Cathars were a heretical sect which existed in the Middle Ages in the then independent
Languedoc and which was destroyed by a violent crusade authorised by the Pope
and led by Simon de Montford. The tangible remains of this struggle are the
dramatically located castles built by the Cathars on high rocky sites all over
the region, giving commanding views of the forests and plains below. Thus this
whole area is steeped in history and mystery – that the Cathars held the
Holy Grail and smuggled it from Montségur just before the end of the
siege there – as well as having the splendid scenery which makes it such
good walking country. The walking is easy to moderate but with some full days.
BACK
