QUEST 9

NINTH TEST


Continue toward an old Roman camp that was baptized with the name of a Phoenician princess.

Ask there for an old Celtic monument in the middle of a corn field. If no-one knows the answer,

Take the old road that leads to the city where a king lived who decided to put food on the table of all the residents of his kingdom. Walk three to five kilometers, and just before you reach a place where women cook, turn right and go straight ahead. You will find the monument.

Your image in front of the monument is the ninth test.

Well we looked and looked traveling from Montsegur to Rennes Le Chateau to meet Henry Lincoln. Lincoln co-wrote the pseudohistorical book Holy Blood Holy Grail, which became the inspiration for Dan Brown's bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Which is why we thought he could help with the dolmen we were looking for although alas he did not have the answers!

So we went to a small village were we asked a team of runners who were going to conquer Montsegur if they knew of the dolmen. Its funny everyone everyone in France says with such conviction that they know exactly what you are looking for that Tom and I have stopped getting over excited now. The runner RAN us to his friends house where he and his wife made us coffee sat us down and started phoning around their friends and family for help. Soon the whole village was helping and everyone knew the answer!

They were completely adamant that the king who put food on the table of his kingdom was Henry IV! Who was born and reigned in PAU.

Henry was nicknamed Henry the Great (Henri le Grand), and in France is also called le bon roi Henri ("the good king Henry") or le Vert galant ("the Green gallant"), a reference to both his dashing character and his attractiveness to women. He also gave his name to the Henry IV style of architecture, which he patronised. He is the eponymous subject of the royal anthem of France, Marche Henri IV.