The Lost Painting

This is the best day so far as our journey takes us through much of the region to see, well, vineyards and 13th century towns.  I am thrilled.  The morning is cool and beautiful, and we make our way through one of the prettiest little towns yet – Trebes, which sits on the banks of a river.  Boats float slowly along filled with passengers enjoying the countryside as we zoom by doing the same.  This looks like a great place to come back to and spend more time.

Riding through countless vineyards, we stop at Minerve, a small village surrounded on three sides by a gorge, no doubt making it easy to defend during times of battle.  In fact, the town is famous for a seven-week siege in 1210 brought on by a particularly cruel ruler named Simon de Montfort.  He was determined to wipe out a separatist Christian sect called the Cathars.  The Languedoc region was home to the Cathars because it was a remote area difficult to reach from more populated parts of France.  Unfortunately the Cathars were eventually massacred in huge numbers in the early part of the century, and during the battle of Minerve, 140 Cathars were burned at the stake.  It is hard to imagine such warfare in this peaceful town.

We park our bikes on the edge of town and walk across a high bridge spanning the gorge below.  While everyone else finds an outdoor café, I move through town taking numerous photos of windows and doorways.  I also find some lovely gifts including hand towels, small painted boxes and tiny animals carved out of metal.  The proprietor is very kind and though she speaks no English and I speak no French, we find we can communicate in German, which I know a little of.  This actually works quite well, and I am charmed by her smile and care for me.

As I have experienced all along on this trip, if you are willing to talk with people in spite of the language  barrier, you will have some pleasant surprises.  Bolstered by my encounter with the shop owner, I stop as we are leaving the café to speak with a woman who appears to be drawing the scene.  It turns out she is from Ireland and while my friends have been sitting there, she has  quickly drawn them.  She is very friendly and wanted to know where we are from and where we are headed.  “Minerve is a wonderful place for a holiday, don’t you think?”  she says to me.  I assure her that I have fallen in love with France as well.  She talks about her observations of the country, all the while casually but masterfully applying soft water colors to her sketch.  I can begin to see the people – our group — come to life where only silhouettes once were, much like this trip seems to be doing for all of us.

Thinking of them, I realize they have all headed back to the bikes now.   I quickly say good bye and begin jogging through the small town, looking down the tiny streets for a glimpse of the group.  Since I wandered in to the town on my own, I really don’t know any other way out than the way I came, so I decide to retrace my steps and go the way I know.

In just a few moments, from a distance I see our group crossing the bridge, almost back to the bikes, and I catch them fairly easily.  We put our helmets back on and bring the engines back to life.  Suddenly, a wave of regret sweeps over me.  In my rush to find the group, I missed out on a one-of-a-kind opportunity to purchase that painting – or at least get her contact information to strike the deal once we were stateside again.  I would have loved this priceless memento, and it would have been worth far more to me than to her, and far more than any price she might have named.

A lesson to remember: take time to recognize what’s in front of you.  Rushing through life, you’ll miss too many masterpieces.