A blog-full of lovely pictures of a picturesque part of France.
Just back from a 9-10 day break, mostly spent in extraordinary, dazzling, dramatic Languedoc.
Languedoc, means (Land of) the tongue or Language of Oc -Occitan being the ancient language of the area. It is a region that has long exercised the medieval-obsessive imagination of your correspondent, your writer-blogger-chappie.
As a land of huge Cathar castles, at places like Montsegur; Lastours and Saissac, (pictures above) all perched on their craggy, towering cliff top peaks; of mighty monasteries and cathedrals; of battles and crusades, of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her troubadour poets, singing of knights and of courtly love; of stunning tapestries and religious sculptures.
Indeed as a crucible for almost everything that fires the mind about our sometimes cruel, yet often vivid and glorious medieval past. Because most of our images and ideas of that time either originate from, or found their highest expression in this region. And it still…
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Jane Dougherty Writes 