Carcassone Chateau and town

There are actually 2 old towns in Carcassone - the Cite and the Bastide.

We first went to check out the older Cite part of Carcassone where people have been living since prehistoric times. The Roman’s then made a big impact using it as a fort between Toulouse and Narbonne. Then there have been various lords and dukes who have been in power and made changes over time.

We walked to the Cite and climbed up through the old streets to a gate in the city walls.

There are actually 2 city walls - one inside the other.

In the Cite we checked out the abbey with supposedly the best stained glass windows in France. They are pretty amazing. They also have some very good gargoyles!

We then saw the outdoor theatre and wandered the medieval streets.

We then went to the Chateau which is a huge part of the Cite. We went through the different parts constructed at different points in time- and then onto the ramparts which took us through the impressive towers - most originally built by the Romans.

The chateau is now in very good condition but it’s only due to a large reconstruction done in the 1800s as it was very delapidated then. It took 40 years to get rid of all the rubbish between the 2 sets of ramparts. It’s now all very impressive. It took us at least half an hour to do the ramparts so we were quite hot and hungry by now.

We left the Cite and on the way walking down to the 2nd town the Bastide we found a creperie and had a nice crepe with lemon and icecream- a good reviver.

The Bastide was designed in a grid pattern in the 1200s by Louis IX and also became a fortified town. It’s also very interesting with narrow streets with some central wider thoroughfares and a big square in the centre. It’s a nice town for pedestrians - not cars.

We bought some ingredients for the paella we were making later and headed back to the campsite.

We had a cool swim when we got back - not as crowded thank goodness as it was now Monday and a lot of people had left. We are looking forward to when the French holidays finish and everywhere will be less busy - and campsites will be easy to get into again!

We then had a big experiment making a paella fit the first time - and also in the new bbq.

I followed the recipe which said not to stir it when the rice had gone in - but this lead to the rice on the edges not cooking. So after stirring up and leaving for another while it all cooked. It turned very well - but we will keep on experimenting - and enjoying it.

It was now 11pm after all that drama - so we dropped into bed.