Cathar Castles of Languedoc: The four castles at Lastours are, Quertinheux, Cabaret, la Tour Regine, Surdespine, 100km to the south you will find Peyrepertuse & Sant Jordi, a further 12km to the south east is Queribus (only 5km as the crow flies), and Puilaurens is 33km west of Queribus.

The Cathars were Gnostics, believing people should shun the material world and embrace the spiritual.  The Albigensian Crusade was declared by Pope Innocent III in 1209, against the Cathars as they were seen by Rome to threaten the authority of the Church. 

Quertinheux, seen from the village of Lastours. Three of the castles of Lastours, Cabaret, Surdespine and Quertinheux, were built in the middle of the XIth century, tour Régina was built sometime after 1255.

Three chateaux of Cabaret, la Tour Régine and Surdespine, stand in a line, on a ridge that is only 450m long and 50m wide. Quertinheux is built close by but on a separate pinnacle, overlooking the village of Lastours. The ridge is 300m high and there is a small dirt path between each chateau. 

Looking from Cabaret to Tour Regine and Surdespine

Peyrepertuse has always been a "remote castle on an inaccessible mountain top", it is on an 800m high limestone ridge. It was never attacked during the crusades but was surrendered in 1217. It was reclaimed, and then surrendered again after the 1240 Siege of Carcassone. It was originally built by either the Catalan Counts of Besalu or the Spanish kings of Aragon in the 11th century, (first mention is c. 1020) but was then annexed by France. It became a French possession in 1240. and a second, higher castle, le chateau Sant Jordi, was built by King Louis IX. Peyrepertuse then became a fortress of the French frontier line. 

The original castle, viewed from Sant Jordi.

Queribus is perched on a narrow rocky peak at 728m. Following the siege of Montsegur in 1244, the last of the Cathars were sheltered here - it fell to King Louis IX in 1255 and was another fortress on the French/Spanish border until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 when the border was fixed at it current location further south. 

Spot the man in the orange tee shirt walking up to the castle.

Finally on our trip we visited Puilaurens, spotting it one evening from the village of Lapradelle as the setting sun was reflected on the castle walls.

France; Abbaye de Saint-Papoul

Bilbao: Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was designed by Frank Gehry (born 28 Feb 1929) It was built between   Oct 1993 and Oct 1997 and is made from titanium, limestone and glass. The outer skin of the building is made up of approximately 33,000 sheets of titanium which change colour, reflecting the light and weather conditions.

"Mamon"   the   spider  sculpture   cast   in   bronze,   marble   and   stainless   steel   by                 Louise   Bourgeois (25/12/1911 - 31/05/ 2010), 

Vietnam: My Son



My Son: This was a Cham religious site between the 4th & 13th centuries, rediscovered by French archaeologists in the 19th century, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. We left Hoi An @ 06.00hrs - pillion passengers on motor bikes - It was incredible, driving through the small villages in the dark and seeing dawn break over the mountains. The site of My Son was calm & peaceful and we were the only ones there. Go very early, or late in the evening when the hordes have left!

 

Vietnam: Hoi An, Old Quarter







Vietnam: Water Puppet Theatre - Hanoi

Water puppetry, or roi nuoc, dates back over a thousand years and the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre in Hanoi took its name from the ancient city of Emperor Ly Thai To who moved his capital here in 1010 and called it Thang Long - City of the Soaring Dragon. The puppeteers stand waist deep in a tank of water and control the puppets from behind a curtain. The stories are based in tradition, the daily life of poor farmers, withrich villains, and legends with dragons, and are accompanied by live musicians playing traditional instruments