The Sentier Cathare Long Distance Footpath
A Great Hike in the Hills of Southern France
Aug 29, 2008
It's a tough walk; steep mountains, rough scree, steep ascents and descents, and some long days with thirty kilometres (20 miles) of walking. Not a beginner's hike! But its mix of landscapes, history, and fairytale castles makes it an unforgettable walk.
Port la Nouvelle, where the Sentier Cathare starts, is an odd place. It's about one third seaside resort, two thirds industrial port; there are beach shops selling sunglasses and souvenirs, opposite silos and a cement factory. Walk a little way out of town, and you'll see a deserted salt works among the lagoons, the mud still encrusted with white salt.
The Corbieres - Wealth Founded on Wine
This long distance footpath strikes inwards to the Corbières, one of France's great wine growing areas – and also, as you'll see from the lines of wind turbines strung out along the hills, a major contributor to the cause of green energy. Vineyards are tucked into the valleys, odd corners at every angle, like crazy paving; above, limestone cliffs afford magnificent views.
Small towns here, like Roquefort les Corbieres or Durban-Corbieres, founded their wealth on the vine, and fine classical townhouses show the taste as well as the riches of the local merchant classes. But nowadays, these are quiet towns, shady streets and sunny squares almost deserted.
Rocky paths lead through the garrigue; green oaks shimmer in the wind. Where there were houses, you'll find fig trees, the fruit often hanging low enough to pick.
Cathar Castles - Queribus and Peyrepertuse
The landscape becomes more dramatic heading towards Padern. Two huge jaws of limestone, the Grau de Padern, guard the entrance to this small town and its valley. Rocky cliffs are topped by castles – Queribus, its tower capping the rock like a ferocious tusk, and Peyrepertuse, crowning the rim of the cliffs above the quiet village of Duilhac.
Every day seems to have a highlight; the deep Gorges de Galamus, with a tiny hermitage almost hidden in the depths of the gorge; the high Pic de Bugarach, a massive mountain you contour on forest paths and through high meadows; the distant sight of the Canigou, a perfect Pyrenean peak.
Into the Foothills of the Pyrenees
After Quillan, a town of narrow grid-pattern streets and high, narrow houses, you leave behind the vines and figs. Now the green oaks give way to pines and fir trees, and you start to see cattle and sheep in the fields. In the high pastures, mist comes down suddenly, and the sound of cow bells rings through the tendrils of cloud. It's a different world from the dry garrigue.
Then the landscape changes again, just for a day, as you enter the microclimate of the Gorge de la Frau; a cool, moist gorge, full of ferns and secrets.
Two more Cathar castles mark the road into Foix – Montsegur, high above the village on a rocky crag, and Roquefixade. All too soon, the road through dark forests comes out to a clearing above the valley of the Ariege, with magnificent views of the plains to the north; and then it's time for the slalom descent into the ducal capital of Foix, and the end of the walk.
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