The Cathars' Last Stand - Montsegur

Over the course of my month Chez Smith, I had some wonderful drives in and around the department of the Ariege and finally visited the Cathar (a Christian sect which was essentially wiped out in France through  Inquisition by the Catholic Church in the 1200s) bastion in which the last remaining believers were wiped out in 1244.  Montsegur is a well-known tourist site on the currently popular "Cathar Tourist Trail" and it provided a nice stop with great views, a cute town and a little museum with Cathar relics and history books in French, Dutch and English.

Views of the Fortress/Bastion

   

   

Views from Montsegur

   

Views of Montsegur from the town and parking area below

   

Last Year's Project - The Refuge de Rive

One of the difficult things about HelpXing is that we often participate in a project but never see the final outcome.  Last summer, we helped put some of the late stage touches on a new climber/biker bunkhouse.  We saw the bunkhouse as it was nearing completion but moved on before it was ready for the public.  Luckily, I got a chance to go back and see it this year.  It looks great!

We assembled the beds!

We assembled all of the cabinets!

We assembled the railing!

The Refuge de Rive is for sale - along with the owner's house next door.  Way too much for our budget, but a wonderful spot and a business ready to go.  I feel a little sad that the fruits of our hard work will be enjoyed by a stranger - but, hopefully, our dear friend, the current owner, will get a good price for it and can parlay the money into another great project in the area.

Not this one....

Michiel stumbled upon this fabulous and honest real estate listing in France.  If only they were all this funny...http://www.french-property.com Home Listings

Mirepoix

When the weather cooperates (which it hasn't done a lot of in the past week and a half) and I am not out with an agent looking at properties, I have been trying to get out and about to find new areas that might be nice and cheaper to live in.  I've been combining these trips with touristy activities.

Here are some photos of Mirepoix, a lively medieval town that is now home to lots of British expats (due to the proximity of the Carcassonne Airport and its budget flights to the UK).  It has a charming village center with lots of bars and restaurants, but the area was too far from the mountains and way too expensive!  (I have discovered that the prices of property in areas that are full of expats are way higher than elsewhere.) 
It made for a pleasant afternoon out, though.


   

   

   

The Rose Bed Project

One of the projects I have been working on (with help from Helen) is the rose bed project.  The project consisted of weeding, digging a trench around the bed and setting up fencing and then filling in the bed with beautiful black compost.  We get the compost from the town dump where we get rid of the weeds, branches and any other green waste.  The dump brings all of the green waste to another dump where they mash it up and let it compost.  The bigger dump returns gorgeous compost to the local dump.  There are no real posted rules on taking the compost, but we have been going with a 1 for 1 swap - for each barrel of green waste we deliver, we fill up a barrel of compost.  It's fabulous!

Here are the before and after photos:

Before:

   

Introducing the Sheri Memorial Rose Garden

   

   
...but I'm not dead yet.....