Just outside of Narbonne sits the Fontfroide Abbey, easily one of the highlights of the trip so far. The abbey was founded in 1093, though the bulk of the complex was not completed until the middle of the 12th century. The monks still produce food, honey, wine, and furniture at the abbey and maintain an incredible botanical garden that they've terraced into a nearby hill.

This part of France (Pays Cathar) is the former stronghold of the Cathar Christians, a rogue offshoot that believed in two gods, reincarnation, and other things that the Catholic Church wasn't thrilled with. Non-Cathar, Fontfroide Abbey was one the few spots in this area that maintained allegiance to Rome and played an integral part in removal (massacre) of the Cathars in the Albigensian Crusades.

Not as ornate as the cathedrals in the region, but still an amazing building.

Not much remains of the ancient mural behind this statue