Map of Languedoc
Introduction
Chapter One
Our arrival in southwest France - an unhappy first night - Chris losses the bike
tickets - Sunshine and Villemoustaussou - On the relativity of distance in France
- We meet a Danish expert on the Cathars.
Chapter Two
The journey to Rennes-les-Bains - The charm of the wind and the weather(!) - Discovering
the Valley of God - Keeping food insect free - Things that go bump in the night -
The legends of Rennes-le-Chateau - The Crusade against the Cathars.
Chapter Three
On the vicissitudes of French weather in Spring - The cheapness of some French hotels
- Eating, drinking and camping on one hundred francs a day - We meet Lucien who tells
us some more about the Cathars.
Chapter Four
Our first visit to Montsegur - The siege and massacre of 1244 - Elaine falls off
her bike - Problems with dogs.
Chapter Five
Foix - A few days resting in a mountain house, still without twentieth century comforts
- Esclarmonde and women Cathares - Elaine joins a cycle race.
Chapter Six
The caves of Tarascon - The legend of Pyrene of the Pyrenees - Problems visiting
a Cathar museum - Heretical lives in summer pastures - The ways of medieval Cathar
shepherds.
Chapter Seven
Visiting Cathar chateaux - The sunshine of the coast - A lecture in Perpignan - An
American student tells us about Gnosticism - Chris loses his bank cards - The spoiling
of the sea shores.
Chapter Eight
We feel homesick - We are forced to squat by noisy neighbours - More wind - We meet
an English nun - Miracles at Fanjeaux - Medieval Mirepoix - Election night at Chataigne
Chapter Nine
More on weather - A night at an inn - Montferrier - The Summer Solstice at Montsegur
- The Cathar Flame of Tolerance.
Chapter Ten
We leave the mountains - On seeking the perfect spot - Peace on the Canal du Midi
- Assassination of Inquisitors - On taking bikes on French trains.
Chapter Eleven
Toulouse, the capital of the heretics - Besieged and resisting - The death of Simon
de Montfort - Life today in the Rose Red City.
Chapter Twelve
Cordes in the Heavens - Albi of the Albigensians - More resistance to the Inquisition
- Some cycling philosophy - Toulouse Lautrec - French attitudes to cyclists - Mazamet's
amazing museum - Caravans.
Chapter Thirteen
Crossing the Black Mountains - Caught in a storm with a puncture and no pump - Helped
by a knight errant - Wet welcome at a Dutch campsite - The heat and cicadas of the
Corbieres - Le Chemin de Belibaste - Camping sauvage.
Chapter Fourteen
The hot spring at Rennes-les-Bains - Back at Lavaldieu - Reincarnated Cathars - Seeking
shelter from the storm again - The works of Arthur Guirdham and David Wood.
Chapter Fifteen
Meeting People.
Conclusion
Lourdes - Cathar influences on Catholicism - The political dimension - The mystery
of missing library books - Homeward.
Bibliography