Last night we stayed at the Al Amad hotel overlooking the valley and opposite of the castle, Carc de Chevaliers. One energetic member of our group suggested that we might want to walk up to the castle in the morning, a four-mile walk uphill. Everyone agreed with his lively suggestion. I decided to put the matter before the Lord, ha. I prayed that if God wanted me to wake up early and walk up that mountain, for God to wake me up a half-hour before my alarm. I woke up many times last night, but never close to the time of my alarm. You could not have opened my eyelids with a pair of needlenose pliers when the time came. So I decided that God did not want me to walk up the mountain. For many the walk was horrible; Allen, Larry and I, on the other hand, had a refreshing ride up the mountain. Gee, weren’t we smart.
The castle was built in approximately 1000 AD. It was originally built by the Crusaders and was only taken by an enemy one time. A large Moslem army convinced the Christian occupiers that the Pope had made peace with the Moslems and that they should open the doors—they were no longer at war. Once the doors were open, the Moslems sent the Crusaders home telling them never to come back. Looking at the castle from the base, it is easy to see why it was never overtaken; it is truly a fortress.
