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Tuesday, April 21, 12:37:34 [ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, [9], 10 ]

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Date Posted: 10:29:35 10/22/03 Wed
Author: Lissa
Subject: More tales from my journey...

Sorry I went missing there, for anyone interested in hearing about my trip. I had alot of catching up to do around here and a few other new things popped up as well. I haven't even had a chance to come and read the boards, but I will do that when I am done posting here, if I have enough time before my next appointment.

After we left Lourdes, we headed out along the Pyrenees to visit sites that have connections to Mary Magdalene. How many of you have read DaVinci Code? If you were intrigued by that, then you must get ahold of "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar; Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail" by Margaret Starbird. The author speaks at length about the 'heresies' (it was heresy to bypass the church of Rome) of the middle ages that prompted the Roman church to come out and clean things up with their inquisitions. The Cathars in Southern France were a particular target, in part because some of their beliefs were tied to Mary Magdelen and the balance of Feminine Divine. This is the area we wanted to explore a bit.

We found our way to Montsegur, south of Toulouse, which was the last holdout of the Cathars and supposedly an ancient holy site dedicated to Isis, all on the top of a magnificent rocky mount. I forget how to do a link, but here: http://self.citaenet.com/Site/2099.asp Somewhere we had read that Mary Magdalen had visited there when it was a holy site, obviously long before the Cathars were there. We stayed in the lovely town of Mirepoix and then hiked to the top of Montsegur in the morning. We had a lovely meditation up there and the energy of the place was wonderful. We hiked down, managed to convince the only open restaurant in a nearby town to serve us lunch after a couple of tables cleared, and then hit the road for Rennes les Chateau, which is mentioned in all kinds of books as having some kind of connection to Mary Magdalen and all the stories that go along with her.

We were still on the edge of the Pyrenees, so the drive was interesting and curvy, up and down, many times with great views of vast vallies. Once we got to Rennes-les-Chateau, we were disappointed to find that it was more of a tourist trap than any kind of good energy center. We decided that whatever was once there was gone. The church did not have that mystical feel that fills you like in so many other old churches or mystical sites. Even the bookstore was filled with books that had very contradictory messages from each other, rather than supporting one kind of thread. It was a bit disappointing, but we figured that it is good to get a feel for something that is NOT what you expected, just so that you know what that feels like. Now when I read things about Rennes-les-Chateau, I will be certain to continue keeping my mind open, not coming to any defined conclusions about the discussion at hand. We realized that we were done with whatever had drawn us in about the Cathars, we had gotten what we needed and it was time to switch gears.

We left there and checked out the hot springs at a neighboring town before cutting across to Narbonne near the Mediterrean Sea. This was one road I could have done without. I almost puked from all the curves. The woman driving is from a racing family and she had alot of confidence with her ability to handle the curves at maximum speed. hahaha At this point, we didn't care much about all the Cathar towns we drove thru nor about the varied scenery. We just wanted to make it to Narbonne in time to get a decent dinner. You see, in France, there are specific times during which meals are served and if you miss those times, you miss being able to eat. We didn't come to France to keep missing out on dining experiences, so we were determined to get to Narbonne in good time.

We did it, we got to the city in time to be seated for dinner. We found a nice looking place and ordered a really good meal, complete with wine. Everytime we managed to get ourselves to a good meal, we felt obliged to make a toast to ourselves. hahaha After dessert, we drove out toward the beach to find a place to stay on the Mediteranee. We were in luck. My friend and I took a nice walk while the others went to bed and I enjoyed the ocean breeze blowing across me. I never did get to swim the next day because the the breeze had turned into a vicious wind and I didn't feel like getting swept away in unfamiliar ocean currents. Oh well. It was nice to put my feet in the water and I brought home some sand and water to put next to my sand and water from the Pacific ocean.

More later, sorry if this went so long. As you can see, we did alot in one day which made it feel like we were gone for a month instead of just 10 days.

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Replies:

[> I love hearing about your travels. The longer the better in my book! -- KatieM, 20:54:28 10/22/03 Wed


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[> Lissa, your trip sounds absolutely amazing. Did you take any pictures while you were away? Would love to see some...I have to travel vicariously for the time being, so pictures really help *g*. -- Brenda, 00:32:16 10/23/03 Thu


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[> How very very interesting! It is such a cool idea to travel on the path of someone special, if you know what I mean (donīt know how to say that exactly in English). I can relate to that missing a meal thing. Same here in Germany, haha. Iīve always hated that. Each time someone from overseas comes to visit castles here with us, we are there at odd hours when the restaurants are closed and we are hungry. It sucks, I can tell you. I look forward to hearing about another one of your ten days! -- Martina, 05:02:43 10/23/03 Thu


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[> Lissa, beyond recognizing the name, I know very little about the Cathars. Is there a good book on who they were? Or can you give me a brief rundown??? How did they end? Your trip is facinating!!!! Keep the stories coming. -- Betsy, 15:28:23 10/23/03 Thu


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[> [> Betsy, there's a fiction book on the Cathars and their fate in the book "All Things Are Lights" written by Robert Shea. I am not a big fan of non-fiction literature so this was perfect for me :-) I had never heard about the Cathars that way before, but I know that some religious groups are based on their beliefs. The Mont Segur was their sanctuary and the christians burned it down and killed all the people who lived there. The catholic church saw a threat in them, so they just killed them off. It's been pretty gruesome. -- Antje, 10:32:46 10/24/03 Fri


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[> PICCIS and STORY about the Cathars and Mont Segur----------- >>>>>>>>>>>> links INSIDE -- Antje, 10:53:35 10/24/03 Fri

--- CLICKIT -----

---click-here-too---


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[> [> Thanks, Antje. Really interesting links. I just might need to read that book, too. The description of the "energy transfer" makes me think of Reiki. Were the Cathars in other countries beyond France? -- Betsy, 00:42:12 10/25/03 Sat


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[> [> [> Betsy, I heard about Cathars in Bosnia who eventually vanished cause of the Islam, here's another link to some literature about the Cathars ---CLICKIT--- -- Antje, 13:18:02 10/25/03 Sat


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[> Hi Lissa, so nice to hear about your trip. I keep saying I need to call you and see, still haven't done it yet! Ahahah I'm sorry I guess it's something I forgot to mention, restaurants opened only from 12:15 till 2:30 pm and 7:15 till 11:30 pm, I forgot about that myself and was a bit surprised this summer! Aahhhh the Mediterrannee, MY SEA ! Oh I miss it! -- Isabelle, 19:15:12 10/24/03 Fri


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