We soon found ourselves facing the rocky outcrop that Minerve sits on.

Before entering Minerve we turned left along the dried up river bed at the bottom of the gorge and headed for the ‘natural bridge’ – a long and wide tunnel under the rock through which the river flows to emerge on the other side of the road bridge into Minerve. The view ahead through the tunnel looks very jagged, but on closer inspection, the ground is covered with hundreds of cairns made from stones.

We returned through the tunnel and then walked eastwards round the town on a path at a higher level on the cliff under the town walls to the Puits St Rustique. This well had been used to supply water to the people in Minerve during the siege by Simon de Montfort until his troops destroyed it with a trébuchon from the other side of the river, and they had to surrender. They were given the choice of converting or death. Those that chose the latter were murdered on Rue des Martyrs. They have a modern replica of the trébuchon on view on the opposite bank of the river.

Steps lead from the well up to the main street (Grand Rue). We had a picnic in the shade part way up. At the top of the steps we turned right along Rue de la Tour. This little road runs close to the top of the town wall and provides spectacular views into and across the gorge of the Briant below. We reached the tall tower known as La Candelle which is all that remains of the 13th century vicomtal château. The museum has a large collection of early finds(flint tools for cutting, scraping, sawing etc) as well as a clear explanation of the Cathar faith. The curator took us across the road to see the interior of the little 11th century church.

Minerve really is just a museum allowing visitors to explore it’s outstanding site and explaining its violent early history. There’s no shop to buy simple food or even water, just lots of cafés and a small hotel. There is, however an excellent bookshop that serves tea/coffee.

With the encouragement of our hosts and a borrowed large-scale map we had decided to walk from la Caunette to Minerve along the cliff above the river Cesse. We started along the main street of la Caunette, then turned right onto a track up the hill before the metal bridge that crosses the Cesse. We followed the track and then a small path on the left that reaches a small foot bridge over a gorge formed by a small tributary of the Cesse. We continued through the hamlet of Mayranne and then down into the gorge of the Cesse.

La Cesse

Although the river had dried up, we heard that in spring it flows strongly and sometimes floods.  There are several videos on U-tube showing the floods. See the March 2011 floods between Minerve and La Caunette.

La Cave restaurant in La Caunette

This was a real find - an old winery converted to a restaurant with modern decor. Really first-class cooking, very pleasant service and with set menus starting from €18 including wine! We were told that it is a new venture launched by the mayor of La Caunette’s three daughters.