Foreign Perspectives

What is the view from your computer right now? As I type I am looking out across miles of vineyards; the leaves on the vines, having been relieved of their bunches of grapes in the recent harvest, are gradually turning green and gold as Autumn sets in and gives way to Winter.

Beyond those vineyards is the long grey column of the Fenouilledes; a mountain range that goes on seemingly forever that once divided France from it’s long held enemy of Spain. At dusk, as it is now, they are a formidable sight. Especially the sight of Chateau Queribus reaching out from the peak of those mountains into the grey sky above it.

I am sitting in the same place as the Romans sat 2000 years ago when they decided this part of France was a viable option for a campsite…namely because of the fresh water spring that flowed here, and still provides us to this day with a source of water. Of course, they would not have gazed out at Queribus back then…it was not constructed by the Cathars until into the early part of the 12th century but they still would have sat and observed the same row of mountains that I am observing right now. And no doubt pondered on their mystic beauty.

The outline is still the same; Queribus, the vineyards and I are relative newcomers to the scene. It’s good to see that some things never change though.