Brian Gorge, Minerve, France

Brian Gorge, Minerve, France

The Brian is a tributary of the Cesse, and both streams have eroded deeply to form a presque’ille upon which the ancient village of Minerve precariously stands. The Cesse is the more spectacular river, mainly because it has eroded two natural tunnels under the Cretaceous limestones. The Brian, however, offers good hiking country - remote, challenging and with a few pleasant surprises!
Minerve is located in the foothills of Haut Languedoc and is the center for the Minervois culture, part of the old Cathar country with its interesting and fatal religious history. This hike, however, encompasses more than the human interest, for this is also a geologically interesting area.

The trail starts at the northern (upper) end of the main street in Minerve. If you park your car in the new carpark above the village then the start will be just before you reach the first property on the left. The trail actually goes downstream under the cliff on which the village stands, before doubling back to the north at a much lower level.
The track leaves the broad ledge of limestone (above) and cuts down to the valley floor. In September the wild fig trees were in fruit, providing succulent trail food along the way.
The stream at this point is dry in the summer when there is not enough rain to keep it flowing above ground. The same applies to the Cesse which is why you can safely traverse the tunnels during the summer months.
The first stop is not far along the trail and consists of an old bridge by a ruined mill. Here the stream always contains water and a quick look at the rocks explains why. These are hard impervious Paleozoic rocks, steeply dipping to the north. The photo on the left shows April next to the lowest of several quite deep rock pools; this one is immediately upstream of the old mill bridge.
The bridge is safe to walk over and quite photogenic. The adjacent mill is in ruins, having been taken back by nature. The trail crosses the bridge and then becomes a lot less open. It is quite obvious that not many people hike beyond the bridge and the mill. A few meters beyond the mill there is a fork, one path going up toward the cliffs, the other down to more rock pools.
We went down to visit the rock pools. Although the sun was not shining, it was warm and humid and the cool waters in the stream were inviting! So I stripped off and plunged in.
While cooling off I began to take in the geology and noticed one spectacular view of the unconformity between the steeply dipping older rocks and the gently dipping Cretaceous limestones. The impervious Paleozoic strata support a rich vegetation of shrubs and thorns, whereas the overlying limestones do not, so it is very easy to identify the exact location of the unconformity from a distance.
As we climbed up the trail away from the rock pools, this became more and more evident, as this photo demonstrates. The unconformity at the base of the limestones is very uniform, meaning that the older rocks were eroded flat before the first limestone was deposited. Today the limestones are tilted to the south; this is a result of later movements during the formation of the Alps.
The trail eventually climbs up to the unconformity “contact”, where the younger rocks sit directly on the older rocks. This contact represents a geological time gap of several hundred million years. April gives an indication of scale; she is standing on the older rocks which are quite soft immediately below the unconformity, having been weathered as part of the erosion process. It is possible to make out the general dip of the older rocks, steeply from right to left. This is in contrast to other observations, which means that the older rocks are actually tightly folded.
The trail now follows the eastern wall of the gorge for several hundred difficult meters of narrow trail, partially hidden by bushes and thorns. The trail isn’t exactly visible in this photo I took a few meters ahead of April.
The trail continues to gain altitude with the unconformity climbing up to the north faster than the stream cuts down into the older rocks. As a result the views become quite magnificent, well worth the hard work along the not so easy trail. This view shows the Brian far below.
The view up above is equally stunning and there are a number of caves, to be seen, some of which have been modified into small shelters. We don’t know how old these are, but it is easy to imagine similar pre-historic settlements in the area (there are several menhirs and dolmens in the surrounding area).
At this stage of the hike it becomes increasingly difficult to see exactly how the trail is going to get you back to civilization. The trail slowly climbs up the side of the valley and then finds, almost by magic, a narrow side valley that allows the trail to scramble up to the edge of the gorge. The view shows April about to reach the top of this side valley and the view is back toward the start of the trail.
Once on top of the limestone edge to the gorge the trail becomes even more difficult to follow. However, there are small cairns (piles of stones) that help to mark the trail and in places there may be some pieces of colored tape. The key, though, is to aim for the small farm toward the southeast. You will soon hear the dogs! The farmer is also an archeologist who speaks Dutch but not much English. He told us about some of the dolmens in the area but these are apparently hard to find without a good guide.

Once the farm is reached there is a good dirt road down toward Minerve, making for easy progress. The views along the edge of the gorge take in the village and the start of the trail. The many tourists opposite seemed quite surprised to see people “on the other side”.
This view of Minerve from across the Brian is therefore not one you can expect to see on a quick visit. What you can also see is the first part of the trail we took, with the sharp turn back up the gorge just to the left of center.
The trail appears to be passing Minerve altogether but it soon becomes apparent that there is a way down the gorge into the valley floor. At this point the view of the southern end of the fortified village is very clear and the restoration work that is being done is funded by car park fees, so do use the car parks!
A rather sorry looking wooden catapult stands across from the village, marking the top of a staircase down the gorge. This represents the siege of Minerve during the Cathar purge in 1210. From here the steps and a bridge carried us back to Minerve and a long trek back up the village to the start.
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What equipment should you take on a hike around Minerve?
The weather in Minerve is reasonably predictable but can be very hot in summer when there may be no clouds to offer cooler temperatures and protection from sunstroke.
The obvious items for hot weather include a hat and comfortable clothing. Take plenty of water or drinks - there is none that is potable along the way.
Useful equipment could include shades, GPS, multi-purpose knife, staff or stick, first aid kit and lip balm.
Optional items would include a camera, binoculars and swimsuit.
Any recommendations on food for the trip?
The cafés and restaurants in Minerve will provide welcome sustenance at the end of the hike so snack food may be all that is required for the three to four hours of hiking.
What about public transport?
Minerve is served by a bus service. Most people traveling to Minerve either have their own cars or travel as part of a private bus tour.
Where to Next?
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