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‘Alaïs climbed up on the stone bench and reached for the lowest window of the Tour Pinte that gave on to the Cour du Midi. She hauled herself up, wriggled over the stone ledge and threaded herself in through the narrow gap. She was in luck. The room was empty.’
The Trencavels built the Château Comtal in the 12th century on Roman and Visigoth foundations as part of the western fortifications. Although most of the oldest buildings are gone – their stones scavenged to build the Bastide Saint-Louis – the Cour d’Honneur, the smaller Cour du Midi and the distinctive square watchtower, the Tour Pinte, remain. The watchtower – as all the defensive towers – had no stairs, just landings connected by wooden ladders that the guards could draw up after them.
