The World Didn’t End in 2012

Back in 2012, we were living in France. And if we’d believed the doomsayers, not for very much longer. Here’s the story as I told it on my blog, after we’d spent the day with our walking group near the Pic de Bugarach.

Bugarach: ‘Doomsday Destination’

December 15th 2012

As we get nearer, the mist clears.
The castle at Coustassa glimpsed through the mist

Cold.  Pale thin fog baffles the contours of the hillsides, and those of the distant castle at Coustassa.  Glimmering frost bristles the short maquis grass beneath our feet.  A watered lemony sun high above us attempts to burn winter away, and eventually does so.

The mists begin to clear

That’s when we have our first view of Bugarach – shown in the featured photo – the imposing thick-set mountain which dominates this part of the Aude, because it stands alone, rather than as part of a range, and today is pretty much thatched in snow.

Bugarach has been in the news for a while.  Here’s BBC’s ‘From our Own correspondent’ back in July 2011:

‘According to an ancient Mayan calendar, at some point towards the end of 2012, the world will come to an end.

It is not clear how that will happen, but apparently humanity does not stand a chance – except for those who seek shelter in the area surrounding Bugarach.

Just 200 people live there all year round, but doomsday believers and spiritual groups are convinced the village has magical powers, thanks to the local mountain – the Pic de Bugarach.

For years, rumours have circulated on the internet that extra-terrestrials live in the mountain, and come the apocalypse, the top will open and they will emerge with spaceships, and rescue the local inhabitants.’

Although it’s quite hard to entertain the idea that the mountain might have some sort of underground UFO car park, there are plenty of people who have done so, and with great fervour.  Here’s today’s Daily Mail, which has been talking to Jean-Pierre Delord, Mayor of the tiny village of Bugarach (pop. 176).

‘On Wednesday, he will close the village for five days to anyone who doesn’t live here or isn’t already booked to stay, and draft in hundreds of police, military, firemen and Red Cross to ban any gatherings, shut off the mountain and arrest anyone silly enough to try flying over it.

‘What if tens of thousands of people turn up?’ he says, throwing his arms up in the air. ‘I have no way of knowing what will happen. I have no crystal ball! I don’t care if people want to chant naked or talk to the trees, but I have to protect my villagers. I am responsible for them.’’

He’s not over-reacting.  Local house-owners have been able to rent out their homes for the period in question for astronomical prices, and even camping spots are going for 400 euros a night.  For most locals though, the whole thing is at best a nuisance, at worst a real headache.  The nearer we get to December 21st, the more people descend on the area, and the police and army are already involved in keeping order.

We enjoyed our views of Bugarach, as ever.  We spent time pretending to look for UFOs and generally mocking the New-Agers who are so convinced by the end of the world as we know it.  Then we got on with the business of enjoying our walk in the here-and-now.  Here are a couple of photos showing what else we saw that day

This is a walk past dozens of capitelles: shelter for sheep farmers & vineyard workers in former times.
Glance away from Bugarach, and you’ll see the Pyrenees.

Update: December 14th, 2024. As you see, we’re still here. And so are you.

For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

41 thoughts on “The World Didn’t End in 2012”

  3. I remember as a teenager seeing signs that we were in the biblical ‘end days’ not to mention all the other ends predicted by other religions and cultures. Of course things are not looking good in 2024, but my mother said long ago how foolish they would have looked if they had sat back waiting for annihilation in the fifties instead of getting on with life and having us!

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  5. Hi Margaret

    Looks like we nearly crossed paths in 2012! I used to live about half an hour’s drive from Bugarach and we went there on 18 December 2012 to see what all the fuss was about. I did this sketch on the day.

    We are now happily settled back in the Aude – in Cucugnan this time – after 10 years back in the UK.

    I always enjoy your blog posts!

    Best wishes

    Judith

    [image: Bugarach J-3.jpg]

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    1. Thank you! I’m happy for you that you have returned to France. We think about our years there with pleaure, with gratitude, and with longing too. But I think we have made a choice we are content to live with, and we still have quite a few of our French friends still in the frame. Your sketch, sadly, isn’t displaying.

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  11. I suppose if we are around long enough, we’ll see and hear just about anything. I lived through the Mayan calendar thing and Y2K hysteria, and so did you. All it takes is a right living, and faith that everything is going to be okay. It’s great to look back and see how far we have come.

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  14. I remember all those predictions about the imminent end of the world but I don’t think I knew anyone who took them seriously although I know there were those who believed them implicitly. But I don’t recall hearing that there was a mountain in France with UFOs and aliens on stand-by to rescue people!

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