Somehow I'd thought this might be an easy day. Fuelled by two pastries and a café au lait, I continued northward on the D 118 as far as Couiza, where I turned east on D 613. This was a classic French country road, with low traffic and scenic countryside. Other road users included what appeared to be a group of Boy Scouts, each carrying a good-sized pack and walking east. When I first saw them, their scraggly line filled the width of the road. I stopped and spent about an hour visiting Chateau d'Arques; they didn't stop and I didn't see them again. I did see a convoy of about 15 fancy sports cars, Ferraris, Iron-Man-type Audis, etc., roaring their way west.
From Wikipedia:
The castle consists of an enceinte and a high square keep with four turrets. It was built after Albigensian Crusade of the 13th century on lands given to Pierre de Voisins, one of Simon de Montfort's lieutenants.
The almost square enceinte (51m by 55m) encircles the castle with a gateway furnished with machicolation and surmounted with a keystone bearing the arms of the Voisin famil ("De gueules à trois fusées d'or en fasce, accompagnées en chef d'un lambel à quatre pendant de même"). Numerous buildings must have existed the length of the enceinte. Two well-preserved residential towers remain.
The square keep, 25 m high, is a work of military architecture inspired by castles in the Ile de France. It has four levels served by a spiral staircase. The various rooms were constructed with extreme care. The top floor was given over to defence of the castle. Forty soldiers could defend it thanks to numerous murder holes and rectangular bays set symmetrically into the walls.
It is a good example of the progress in military construction in a strategically important region.
At the village of Arques, I turned onto D 54, which climbs though red earth and pine forest. As my altitude increased, the loud insect buzzing which I'd heard all morning was replaced with birdsong. At the intersection past Font de Razoules, I turned onto D 129 and continued to climb to an unmarked Col. Here I ate the two mini pizzas I'd bought in Arques (there wasn't much) and spun down through Villardebelle and rejoined D 54 for a steep short climb. Then D 129 through St-Polycarpe and on into Limoux.
The campground is close to the River Aude and one can walk along the river and over the old bridge into town. I did so and wandered around the town for a bit, but I was very hungry and none of the restaurants were serving food until 7. I found a Carrefours Express just a couple of blocks from the main square so decided to get a prepackaged salad and a bottle of wine, plus some yogurt and a bottle of orange juice to go with breakfast. With a vegetable gratin from a deli I was set and carried my loot back to the campsite.
