A medieval experience behind two walls ~ Carcassonne

A medieval experience behind two walls ~ Carcassonne  

September 29-31: Hotel de la Cite, Carcassonne (Sat to Tuesday)

 

This day we drove for 4 hours to Carcassonne (population 4,000) famous for its medieval citadel, La Cite, with numerous watchtowers (52) and double-walled fortifications. I felt like I had arrived at Disneyland.  It is the largest fortified city in Europe.  Its citadel known as the Cité de Carcassonne, is a medieval fortress dating back to the Gallo-Roman period, and was restored by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Ducin 1853. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997. 

View from wall & church in distance

The first walls were built in Roman times with major additions in the 13^thand 14^thcenturies.  We checked into the Hotel de la Cite which is in the middle of this walled city, next to the church. 

Hotel de La Cite

Sitting on the garden patio we ran into Kathleen and George the same Canadians we had met in Gordes.  We invited them to join us for a drink and afterwards went to dinner together.  Three of us had  a famous rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in southern France, containing pork sausages, duck, pork skin and white beans. It is served in an earthenware pot and also sold in cans and jars in supermarkets as well as tourist stores. We enjoyed our meal and our discussions about our favorite travel places, politics, and the future of the world given the advances in technology. 

The next day (Sunday) we toured the palace and walked the ramparts (outer walls) and later together with our Canadian friends did in a boat tour of the Canal du Midi outside the walled city.

Canal due Midi 

Monday it was much colder and windy. These winds are known as mistrals, and blow at 30-60 miles an hour, about 100 days of the year. It turned our palace tour into a ghost town of sorts and there were signs warning us to hold on to rails in the storms. John persisted walking both sides of the rampart walls. (these winds occurred again in Avignon when we were on the Avignon bridge)  We met again with Kathleen and George for a drink at the hotel and dinner afterwards having so much talk about that we were the last to leave the restaurant. One of the pleasures of any trip is the serendipity chance meeting of new friends who have as George would say have “interlocking circles”.   We hope to entice them to Vashon.

  

Avignon

The last day we drove to Avignon to tour our last Market (Les Halles) which unfortunately was closing just as we arrived.  Most stores close at noon or 1 pm and don’t open again until 3 pm. We walked from here through quaint streets to eventually see the famous medieval Benezet Bridge over the Rhone river, inspired by a shepherd’s religious vision.  Do you remember the 15^thcentury nursery rhyme? “on the bridge of Avignon, we will dance, we will dance, we will dance, on the bridge of Avignon, will dance all in a circle.”  Only four of the original 22 arches still have survived due to floods.  

From the bridge we could see the Gothic Palace of the Popes(home to 7 popes) where in 1309 the French Pope moved the Catholic Church from Italy. Sadly, we leave Avignon wishing we had spent the night here and return to the hotel at the Marseille airport in order to catch an early morning flight. 

 

There is still so much more to see in this area such as Aries with Van Gogh art, Orange with a well preserved Roman theatre and Aix en Provence.. and more. Then there is all the food we haven’t tasted yet.. such as meringue…oops John did find lemon meringue in our last lunch in Avignon, but then there are so many éclairs, tarts, macaroons, cheeses, tapenades and pates yet to try and of course plenty of Roman ruins and hill capped villages to discover. So friends would you like to move here with us for retirement?  Oh by the way I found pavlova with raspberries for evening dessert at our final airport hotel to cap off the trip! And of course, croissants for breakfast and a 2^ndchocolate one at the airport. Are your taste buds salivating?

Crepes with cheese and an egg 

Quiche

Croque Monsieur

cheese with salmon whipped cream! 

Escargots 

By the way,  did you know that Texas is 20% larger than France? And France has a population of 67 million? And Rick Steves says the French work 20% less than Americans but with greater per hour productivity (and consume on average a glass and a half of wine per day).  This is a beautiful area of the world with a pace of life that seems anything but rushed. There is  a real emphasis on the art of  food, well prepared, and of course fine wine. Bon Appetite!