Chateau de Puivert

WE HAVE BEEN in this part of France for nearly three weeks now and it wasn't until this past weekend that we ventured just up the road to the Chateau de Puivert. To be perfectly honest, I think part of the reason for our delay has to do with the fact that the castle is not as impressive from the outside as some of the others in the region (like Cheateau Montsegur, Foix [please click on the Foix link just to see the stunning castle!], or Peyrepertuse) so we weren't sure it was going to be that great. Boy were we wrong. The Chateau de Puivert is a hidden secret among the Cathar castles.

Although the first mention of the Chateau dates back to 1170, the construction of the current ruins is from the 13th century when it belonged to the Congost family at the time of the Albigensian Crusade. These lords at the time practised Catharism and were accused as heretics and in November 1210, the castle was subjected for three days to a siege by the army of Thomas Pons de Bruyère, lieutenant of Simon de Montfort. [Note: yes, I basically ripped off the last paragraph from Wikipedia]. What Wikipedia won't tell you is that the castle is now privately owned and owners live on site for parts of the year. Now that's a nice vacation house.

We had a great day hiking up to the castle, exploring the grounds, visiting the gorgeous rooms, and enjoying the stunning views from the top of the Chateau. More photos can be seen here.

[Bonus points available for anyone who can identify what Patrick is wearing on his hands in the above photo. You might have to click the photo for an enlarged version. That's our boy.]

CJS