My hero is a caveman

My hero is actually a caveman. Poor Arnaut.

When he first appears in the story, he walks out from the depths of a cavern. He’s hiding there for a very special reason [ *see older post about The Heavenly Horse]. The local people are familiar with the many ancient caverns in the region and use them from time to time for shelter. In this case, Louise and her local guide take refuge from a fierce storm and to escape a pair of Napoleon’s secret agents.

Arnaut is not at all pleased to see them invading his hideout  and Louise would rather be anywhere than enclosed in the dark and eerie bowels of the earth.

Photo: Heinrich Wendel (© The Wendel Collection, Neanderthal Museum]

She is oppressed by being shut in this warren of rough and uneven areas, with unexpected columns of rock jutting up from the ground or dipping down from above to bump against her head. When at last Arnaut leads her back to the entrance, she’s overjoyed to see the blue sky and green hills.

Louise sets off to complete her mission. As she rides away, she wonders what Arnaut has done for him to be living in such a bleak place. But Louise comes from London and everything about the Pyrenees is strange to her at this point in the story.

The endless steep mountains and deep valleys…..

The small, sure-footed Merens horses

The mysterious Lake of Bethmale    

but she’ll learn…………..

                        …and my Caveman? Acually, he’s very charming.

Enjoyable research in Ariège

After months of working on my WIP, the people in it are as real for me as anyone I come across in my daily life. And my French friend, who follows the story chapter by chapter, is also as familiar with my characters as with her own family. Therefore she was delighted to assist by finding a suitable chateau to serve as the hero's family home. It needed to be in a remote region and so we agreed on the Ariège, where the people are still fiercely independent, and tolerant of religious heresy - it is the region of the Cathars.

      

It is also a region of caverns, stretching many miles underground to vast depths. Wall paintings from 20,000 years ago, sited well over half a mile inside, prove that these underground sites have been in use almost as long as the region has had a human population.

Grottes de Niaux

   

This is the region where my hero and his younger brothers and sisters grew up, with the mountain peaks all around, rushing rivers, mysterious caverns, the fiercely hot, sulphurous waters of the spa at Ax-les-Thermes, the feudal lords of Foix and Aragon dividing or uniting loyalties and politics, and the smugglers' routes criss-crossing the whole area. Plenty of scope for adventures.

Plateau de Beille

Add to this that they live in the opulent chateau visited by all the notable thinkers and artists of the 18th Century. Material here for a second story....

Small wonder that we enjoyed our research. We plan a second visit to investigate the 'Route des Contrebandiers'.