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146 AN EXILE OF THE MIND CHEAP WINE AND PAELLA 147

second look at all we could see. Any
schedule we had was quickly thrown
out of the window.
In the Languedoc countryside in
the south of France we saw crumb-
ling castles of the Cathars clinging
to ridges overlooking a quiltwork
of valleys and vineyards. The small
hilltop village of Rennes-le-Château
became famous for conspiracy the-
ories made popular in Dan Brown’s
2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code. A
nineteenth century priest was said
to have uncovered Templar treasure
in the crypt of his church. He was
sacked by the bishop for his prefer-
ence for wine, women and song over
that of his calling.
The small sovereign state of
Andorra straddled the Pyrénées
between France and Spain. Its
rugged granite peaks and deep can-
yons formed a natural frontier. We
watched in awe as the landscape and
weather suddenly changed from the
murmur of winter to summer from
one side of the border to the other.
And on to Barcelona where we
camped, undiscovered, in the main
square. A visit to La Sagrada Familia
was not to be missed. An extra-

The Basilica of La Sagrada Familia
shown on the left and opposite.