This will be a double entry, as I am sitting to write this blog on Monday evening, the 15th. Yesterday, the 14th, we had a wonderful Sunday, beginning with Mass and then a trip to walk through a cave with wall paintings dating back more than 13,000 years.
After the long bus trip back to the hotel, I decided I’d get up early this morning to write. Those plans were interrupted by the hotel’s fire alarms going off, alerting us to impending flash flooding. Twelve hours later, we’ve checked in to a new hotel in the village of Quillan. So now I write, in reverse order.
This morning at approximately 6:15 a.m., we were shaken by the sound of the hotel’s fire alarms. They had been sounded to wake us and alert us to impending flash flooding. Overnight, more than 10 inches of rain poured down, the equivalent of more than 4 months in the area, and where we were staying in Couiza, The Aude and The La Sals rivers meet. The Chateau des Ducs Joyeuse hotel sits on the banks of The Aude, and when we descended from our rooms to walk across the courtyard, there already was about a foot of water. We were rushed out and told to gather in the center of town at a Café Saint Anne where we’d be safe.
On our way there, we crossed La Sals river, and it was apparent even in the dark the waters were raging, preparing to flood. As daylight broke about an hour or so later, the flooding was in full force, as the pictures will show. Our pilgrimage group prayed together for our hosts back at The Chateau and for all those impacted by the floods. We’ve since learned at least 6 deaths have occurred and the flooding in the area is the worst since 1892. We found out the flood at the Chateau had reached nearly 4 feet in the courtyard and that we’d be able to return late afternoon to gather our belongings to check out and into another hotel. Thus, we now find ourselves in Quillan. Our day’s planned agenda, a visit to Vals and Mirepoix, did not occur. We may still be able to fit those in as our days here wind down. Yet as I reflect on what we experienced today, we were indeed blessed by our safety and our time shared over lunch and now in a new village we would not otherwise have been able to experience. We took a short walk through Quillan this afternoon, and it has wonderfully small and intimate streets, with shops, cafes and restaurants mixed in among the village’s homes. The ruins of Château de Quillan sit high above the village, and a walk to see them offered wonderful views of the town. Yes, many blessings considering how the morning began.
As for yesterday, our Sunday began with an intimate mass at the Chateau des Ducs Joyeuse, in a small chamber called the Cave, celebrated by Fr. Silly. A day later, the meaning of that mass in that space has become even more significant. After Mass and lunch, we left for the hour and a half trip to Grotte de Niaux. The Niaux Cave contains more than 8.5 miles of passages and chambers, some of which contain wall paintings scientifically confirmed through radiocarbon dating to be more than 14,000 years old, placing them in the Magdalenian period, 12,000 BC. Our group toured the cave together, each of us receiving a flash light but not being allowed to bring phones or cameras; the tours also are limited in size and duration, to limit the potential damage to the cave’s drawings from human presence, breathing, etc. Our tour was limited to a fraction of the cave’s total distance and chambers, culminating with our guide illuminating the prehistoric drawings on the walls in the Salon Noir, a huge chamber that in addition to containing the drawings, also is acoustically spectacular. While in the Salon, Fr. Silly sang a traditional French Christmas song in his beautiful voice, and our group along with the other 15 or so spelunkers, were treated to an amazing musical experience. As for the drawings, they were incredible. You can see some of the drawings at this web site and you will likely be as amazed as were we with their detail.
The drawings of bison, horses, deer, and ibex are very detailed. The researchers have concluded based on excavations that the Magdalenian people came to the cave to paint, not to live or make sacrifices, etc. In addition to the section of the Cave we explored, there are numerous other chambers, some of which contain even more compelling and confounding art, such as footsteps of children appearing to have been intentionally imprinted in likely a soft clay like surface at the time, and a painting of a weasel, which is extremely rare in comparison to the normal animal subjects. The Niaux Cave paintings were first deemed to be prehistoric in 1906, but scientists have confirmed the caves have been visited by modern man since at least 1602, based on graffiti left and dated to that period. The caves have an abundance of graffiti from the 1600s-1800s time period, a somewhat vexing connection to our modern world. The walk through the Niaux Cave’s tight entrances and utter darkness was awe inspiring. The past nearly 48 hours have been full of emotions, awe, anxiety, gratitude… I am so grateful to be on this pilgrimage and cannot wait until tomorrow.