Caussou
Do you not want to be here (anymore)? If so:
Click here to go back to home page
Click here to go back to "What's New in 2002" page
Click here to go back to the Pyrenean Adventure page
Caussou is the birthplace of Beatrice, and the place where she grew up until her mid-teens when the family picked up and moved to Celles.
Beatrice returned to Caussou at times to visit her sister Ava, and on one of these visits they walked down to the
village of Unac to attend church there, to go to confession, and most of all to be seen going to church and to
confession.
Caussou and its valley are quite a dramatic sight. We will approach this sight from the town just to the north,
Bestiac, from where there are three sights of note.
The first is a castle to the north:
The second is the town of Unac, below, showing it is a sizable walk:
The third is the town of Caussou sitting in its steep valley in the distance:
As we approach Caussou, these is one view of the town:
In the city there are the usual sights, but they are meaningful from the Fairytale's perspective: this is where little Beatrice grew up, and this is where she visited as an adult.
First there is the church and views from the church. There is this wall, part of a property next to the church, with an 11th century date over its gate:
Then there is an old house that serves as a barn, not dissimilar to how houses were used in the 13th century as combinations of dwelling and barn:
Several other houses attracted my attention:
The necessary fresh water supply is the creek, and this town has several places where anyone can obtain water, just as it was in every town in this region, now as well as long ago:
Another thing that today is much as it was in Beatrice's time is the practice of having gardens very near the town:
One thing that has NOT changed in 700 years is the setting for this little town. Its surrounding mountains offer quite a dramatic setting, a safe setting from the goings-on in the Ariege valley visible far below:
The plentiful water in Caussou comes from the high mountains behind the town, and its many roaring creeks:
Finally, here is the setting for Caussou (just over halfway down in the map) and the two towns that are in the
valley that joins the Caussou valley at its upper pass, namely Montaillou and Prades (almost at the bottom of the
map). Pictures of the way out of the Caussou valley will be shown here, pictures from the pass will be shown in
the Prades and Montaillou pages.
The road to the top of the Caussou valley is narrow and offers dramatic views. In addition, the old walking path used, no doubt, by Beatrice, is still used today by hikers:
Reaching the pass at the top of the photo above gives several very fine views, one up to the mountains above Caussou, and one down to Caussou itself:
Further views into this valley are given in the Prades page.
Do you not want to be here (anymore)? If so:
Click here to go back to home page