After a great breakfast and send off from Didier and Paolo (which complemented the warm welcome the previous night), we headed off on a day that was colder (10 degrees all day) and wetter than we have had to date. We shared mutual good wishes at the bakery with the 2 couples from Lyon who had stayed at our accommodation overnight as well, and whom we met at breakfast. While not riding, they were doing lots of walking along the ‘Cathar’ castles route. Plans were modified today to take account of the weather. Instead of visiting Montsegur, the most famous of the Cathar castles, we opted to go a shorter route and avoid the extra 100’s of metres of climbing (and descending!!) in the rain. Our initial travel took us through some lovely lush farming country (partly along the Aude River), much more so than the higher country to the north of Prades the day before. Also along the main road, and for the first time an almost easy access (ignoring the 12% gradient), was the castle Puivert. Our visit coincided with a school group, whose teacher (guide?) gave a recital of medieval chant, complete with a percussion instrument of some kind! The construction of the present castle dates from the 12th century. The first mention is in 1170; it belonged to the Congost family before the Albigensian Crusade. These lords practised Catharism and were accused as heretics. Then, 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. The castle subsequently became the property of the northern barons. All that is left of this older castle is a few sections of wall to the east. A collapse of the natural dam on the lake at the foot of the site caused the destruction of part of the town of Mirepoix, 30 km to the north, in Ariège in 1279. According to legend, this was because a certain Dame Blanche wanted to daydream on the lake shores, which were inaccessible in bad weather. She asked that the water level be lowered and work undertaken to accomplish this goal led to the collapse. At the start of the 14th century, Thomas de Bruyère (grandson of Pons) and his wife Isabelle de Melun had the new castle built to the east of the old castle. The remains of the old castle are still visible. A scale model in the base of the donjon shows what the castle was like in the 1300’s. (Check out the bastardry and machinations of the Abigensian Crusade at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade) The top of the castle gives commanding views of the surrounds - like being in a balloon overlooking the peasants. After walking around the wet grounds of the castle it was time for a delicious hot chocolate (with oat milk) at the town at the foot of the castle (funnily enough, also called Puivert), and then on Belesta while the hot drink still gave out a warm inner glow. By the time we got there, the rain had strengthened from a drizzle to a fine misty rain, and the cold had seeped in again. We managed to find a porch on a church where we could gnaw our ‘pain aux noix’ out of the wind and water. On the way out of town we had to dodge a bucket truck removing Christmas decorations. The guy in the bucket way up in the air seemingly singlehandedly holding on to, and trying to prevent from falling a decoration that spanned the street - no traffic controllers or even witches hats to keep cars (and bikes) clear of the action! Today was the first day (of course!) that we have a 1700 check in, so we had to kill about an hour in a bakery nursing a coffee and a pastry until we could get in and have a hot shower and be presentable again! The forecast is better for tomorrow, so here's hoping.