Four castles perch on a narrow rock ridge above the village of Lastours, in the Montagne Noire north of Carcassonne, and they look so improbable from the viewpoint across the valley that most people stop talking when they see them. The two streams, the Orbiel and the Grésilhou, wrap around the ridge, and the castles, Cabaret, Tour Régine, Surdespine and Quertinheux, stand along its length like beads on a string.
These are Cathar-country fortresses, and their story is hard and human. In the early thirteenth century the Albigensian Crusade was launched against the heretics of Languedoc, and the lords of Cabaret sheltered them. Simon de Montfort's army besieged the castles in 1209 and again in 1210 and 1211, and eventually the defenders gave way. Later the castles were rebuilt as royal fortresses of the French crown, which is why they sit within the group recognised by UNESCO as the Royal Capetian fortresses of Languedoc. The ruins you climb through today are the later, harder stonework.
You park in the village and walk up. The path is steep and stony, takes under an hour for a slow circuit, and there is a belvedere on the opposite hillside with a cheap telescope that gives the postcard view. Good boots beat motorcycle boots here, so a light pair of trainers in the pannier helps.
The approach is the better part for a rider. From Carcassonne the D118 heads north to Conques-sur-Orbiel and then the smaller D101 climbs along the Orbiel gorge to Lastours, a series of easy bends with a lovely view over vines and scrub oak. Further up, the road to Mas-Cabardès and the Pic de Nore mountain wanders through chestnut woods and offers some of the quietest riding in the Aude. Wind is common, the Cers coming from the north-west, and summer afternoons can be hot, so go early. Cabardès wines are made nearby, a blend of Mediterranean and Atlantic grapes, and most villages have a cellar door.
Carcassonne, fourteen kilometres away, is the place for fuel, and Conques-sur-Orbiel, with a couple of thousand people, may have services too, though check before you rely on it. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; July and August are busy and baking.