23 February 2004
Altitude
Although the village of Montségur is only about 900 metres above sea level, the château is officially 1216. It can be a breathless climb up the steep and winding path, especially when the pollen count is high.
I was at Montségur a few days ago. As I drove up to the pog past Quillan and Puivert, I saw almond trees and cherry trees in blossom. Then snow at the side of the road.
My destination wasn't Montségur itself, but an area in the mountains south of the safe mountain, le massif de Tabe.
I was visiting a location for my novel, Labyrinth, with my husband, Greg, the Education Director of www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk. We wanted to walk the hillside and absorb the atmosphere of the place at just this time of year. We wanted to take photographs of plants and rock structures, to find the tree line above which the forest gives way to barren mountain slopes ...
... but we parked at 1600 metres alongside 500 other cars, not 20 metres from the toboggan run, 100 metres from the ski lift. We met - by chance - a friend who runs a restaurant in Carcassonne who had brought his son's football team for an afternoon's skiing.
In last week's Home page diary, I talked about 'disordered predictions' and the 'Labyrinthine web of links that you can follow through www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk ...'
This time the coincidence - the odd simultaneity of two disconnected parts of my life - was a distraction. The research trip was ruined – we had a great time.
I need to go back again.
Don't hesitate to re-visit the Labyrinth.
