A mosquito bite or thirteen later...
Now that the wind has fallen away, the temperature goes smoothly over 30°C, and you have a sweat attack thinking you're going to move, the mosquitoes are just catching up. We spray an anti-mosquito agent with deet. It helps, but they just find those places where you forgot to spray: the bottom edge of your feet, your elbow... They even bite right through your t-shirt on your back. They're small, vicious, black mosquitoes.
We're going to find some cooling in the direction of Pyrenees. They spend a little more cloudiness there. It's higher there. It just has to be cooler there.
The first main goal of the day: the village of former pastor Bérenger Saunière. The whole village is looking for tourism that revolves around the mystery of the treasure that the local priest may have found.
One of the main points of thought about the behaviour of the priest is that he found proof that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and had children with it. The Holy Grail would be the bloodline of the offspring. That's why he would have built the Tour Magdala.
He would have hidden all the clues in his renovated little church. (But I will dedicate a full blog to this later. This is a story in itself...)
Between Rennes Les Bains and the very small village of Sougraigne lies 'Fontaine des Amours'. We start our day there. (Rennes le Château itself we only reach at noon.) However, we drive past the spot, end up in Sougraigne, which is barely one street big, but has a nice creperie where we have something to drink.
Fontaine des Amours is a small waterfall with a collecting basin in the shape of a heart. You really need to know to find it. It's barely marked. There's not really a parking lot. And there's only local youth coming to get some cool.
Do you see the shape of the heart in the small pelvis? (The branch hides the curved upper of the heart.)
We have a picnic and chairs again. We find a beautiful spot just in front of Rennes le Château, in an ordinary parking lot where hardly anyone is, but where the view of the surroundings is beautiful.
It smells like mimosa and rosemary.
.JPG)
We have once been completely captivated by the mystery of Rennes-le-Château in the village, but do like to come back again.
After our visit to this village, we drive to Nébias. If you want to do a completely different forest walk, you should definitely drive there. You'll feel like you're in Lord of the Rings when you walk 'le sentier Labyrinthe Vert' (more than 4 km if you don't get lost).
It's a strange labyrinth of mozed limestone and curved trees. The path is signposted with yellow arrows and yellow markings on the trees.
In your path you come across strange things:
-> a ringed rock.
-> A fir in the shape of a harp.
-> The great rock labyrinth.
It is amazingly cool and the strange environment is also extremely quiet. No crickets can be heard here and barely a bird whistling. Only insects cheerfully buzz around your head.
Taking water is a must! Good shoes on your feet too...
