ROCKED BY THE WAVES Read Online Free PDF

told me stories.
    «How come you know so much stuff?»
    He looked me in the eyes. «I love ancient tales». And he kissed me.
    I could sense it’d be an intense trip.
    I liked the people in Rome. Everyone was very nice to us and Alex was a bit jealous of that. He was always keeping an eye on me, just in case.
    He was always criticizing the way I dressed. Too provoking, he used to say.
    «Are you really telling me you think all these people are being nice to me because of that? I am a married woman and, seriously, I think it shows. You are always next to me!»
    He would stick to his point anyway.
    «Claire, men are attracted by you. Please, dress properly».
    That was enough.
    «We’re in Rome. It’s the most romantic city on Earth and it’s thirty-five degrees in the shade. What should I dress like?»
    It was always like that.
    In the afternoon, we went to see my cousins. They were clearly impressed by Alex and his undeniable beauty. He was unable to understand Italian, though, so he started getting bored.
    «I can’t even touch you».
    I held his hand. «Of course you can, just not in that way. In a few hours, you will be able to».
    When we got to the hotel, he didn’t say anything, but he got a note, which he immediately read. He didn’t tell me what it said, but he told me we would leave for Languedoc on the following morning.
    I tried to ask why, but he remained silent.
    «But... we were supposed to stay for a few more days».
    «Claire, mon coeur, I’ll explain everything on the journey to France. Now we should go pack».
    When he used to call me like that, it was a bad sign. I hugged him and whispered: «Why do we have to leave? We have so many things to do here...» Then I looked him in the eyes.
    He went red, his eyes telling me how much he wanted me. But he said: «I’ll explain everything tomorrow». He was sweating. «There’s something we actually could do, though...»
    I knew pretty well what he was alluding to and decided to take advantage of that.
    «Yes, there is something we could do. But tomorrow you are going to tell me everything, otherwise...», I knew that would work.
    It was the middle of July and on the following morning we left. We would travel across Italy and then get to France, where we would make a brief stop in Carcassone. It would be nice, because the sight was strikingly beautiful. It was like a fairytale. Yellow gorse was everywhere, endless vineyards and abandoned castles were just amazing.
    The sight changed according to the region we were crossing. We saw the mountains, the hills and many lagoons. Horses and flamingos appeared from time to time.
     
    On the journey, Alex told me the history of that part of France. It was quite bloody, because it was linked to the Crusade against the Albigenses, in 1209. It went on for forty years. Many cities, such as Toulouse, Carcassonne and Béziers, fell. Many people were killed in the name of God.
    Languedoc was an independent Principato by then. Christians, Muslims and Judaists lived in harmony. People discussed poetry and philosophy.
    The Cathars believed in reincarnation and in a female divinity. They also believed that two gods existed, one of them ruling on love, the other on evil. They didn’t believe in crucifixion nor in the crucifix. They didn’t even believe in sacraments. They used to say that Jesus was a prophet of love, AMOR, and that love had become power, ROMA. Inquisition was born because of this, because of the heresy in this duality.
    You could still see some of the temples, or what remained of them. Many had been built for Magdalene, a woman that fascinated me quite a lot. I therefore asked Alex to tell me some more about her.
    «Her cult is very spread here. In Saint Maximin la Sainte Baume, people pay homage to her skeleton. It is believed to be hers, at least. There’s even a fount named after her».
    I loved that kind of stories.
    «The story tells Magdalene run away from Palestine and got to Provence, to Les Saintes