Le Château de Quéribus

Our first foray into the remote southwestern region of France was the Château de Quéribus. 

A journal excerpt:

Thursday, July 13th: Today was our first full day in southwestern France. Jet lag is a strange, strange beast: Last night Jeff and I were so exhausted that we went to bed at 9pm. The bed in our Airbnb was hard as a rock and the pillows were scratchy and square. It was stuffy and hot. We both dozed fitfully for an hour or so with a fan blowing on us, and then laid awake in bed until 2am, when we finally gave up, got up, and read on the couch for a few hours. I read almost an entire book! At 3:30-ish am we were both hungry, so we ate breakfast: Extra with Yop, our favorite European Kellogg’s granola and runny yogurt. 

Around 4:30am, we tried going to sleep again. It worked! We fell asleep deeply and didn’t crack an eyelid open until 9:30am. I ate second breakfast (if it can be called that after a 4am first breakfast, haha) and then hit the road in our weird little rental car (a Toyota Yaris). We drove on the narrowest, curviest country roads of all time for about half an hour to reach Le Château de Quéribus, which was an 1,000+ year old Cathar stronghold. The road to get up to the parking area was an adventure in itself! No guard rail for half of it, with hairpin turns and barely a car and a half wide. At least it was paved! 

There were only a dozen or so cars in the small parking area when we arrived. We paid our modest entry fee and then hiked up to the fortress. It was built on the tippy top of a steep rocky hill/mountain and we climbed 300 feet in less than half a mile. Round trip the entire hike was less than a mile. The wind was whipping and tugging on my hat the entire time. When I went into a room in the ruins, the wind poured through the windows in a concentrated blast and lifted my shirt, hat, and hair like a wind canon. At one point my hat blew completely off my head and I thought for sure it was lost over the edge before it landed on the ground ten feet away. 

The views were spectacular from every angle, every step of the way. The ruins of the fortress itself were relatively small, but the place was mighty nonetheless. I loved admiring the worn stone walls and climbing up a curving spiral staircase to see the tower and looking out the windows at the massive sweeping views below. Jeff and I were on an adventuring high the whole time. It was so much fun exploring a breathtaking rugged historic new place together—it’s one of our favorite activities!

I didn't hold back on the pictures:

Narrow country road...barely a tiny car wide per lane, with bikers cruising along...it was a tight squeeze for all of us.

View from the road as we drove up, up, up.

The final approach (a few kilometers) up to Queribus was a 1.25 car wide lane.

The beginning of the trail up to the fortress. It's officially labeled as a castle, but it seemed far more fortress-ish to me, with the way it was practically growing out of the rocky hilltop and how un-livable its location made it.

From the road, we could see the fortress silhouetted on the hilltop long before we arrived.

As we climbed and explored, we kept stopping to take pictures of the panoramic views. They did not get old, and they kept getting better.

Jeff took this sweet panorama picture on his phone. I rather liked not being the only one taking pictures for once.

The literature says this site has been restored, but it is also ruins...so it's restored ruins?

THRILLING. Seriously, it was a jaw-dropping place.

The tower was probably the part that was restored most.

I love a good stone spiral staircase.

It may be hard to tell in this picture, but every doorway and window funneled the wind through at high speeds. I used the top of the doorway to hold my hat on as the wind scoured me from the front in this picture.

The descent.