Carcassonne

I figured that after being on the road ‘properly’ for over a month and the blog existing for considerably longer, I’d better have a go at an entry other than a feeble stall for the “Tech” page and the budget bit (which Sue updated last night on my behalf, thanks honey). Here goes....

Well, Lautrec turned out to be quite a nice place; another Hilltop town not as nice as (and smaller than) Cordes sur Ciel. The market square was packed with around 7 stalls selling cheeses, seafood and meats. I’m sure there would have been others if there had been space. The rest of the town was fairly standard for a medieval French town, a little run down and feeling sorry for itself.  On a plus note, though (for me), there’s also a 16^th Century windmill at the top of the hill. It seemed to be a bit of a “Granddads’ axe” of a structure though with new vanes and no doubt some new working elements inside.

It didn’t take long to complete the visit with a couple of streets getting a double take. It was then time to head back down to Dora to plan the route for Carcassonne and decide whether to go straight away or take another free night at Lautrec. Lunch done and tea drunk the decision was easy –it’s early, let’s go.

Our route to Carcassonne took us through the Black Mountains. They’re similar in altitude to the Harz Mountains in Germany but a little nicer. The scenery changed noticeably from the North to the South of the range, I guess aesthetically assisted by a bank of cloud which departed just as we topped the hills. We were greeted with an outstanding view, blue sky and all, over what then looked more like Spain than the France we now know.

Diligently following the path as dictated by ‘Hazel’ the dubiously trustworthy GPS, we had an interesting journey to the aire.  I’m sure there’s a reason for bridges to have weight limits. Even empty Dora is significantly heavier than the 2.5T bridge on the signed route for camping cars (which Hazel didn’t like anyway). As is usually the case at times like that I followed the mapping as indicated on Hazels ‘face’ with her wittering on in the background about making a U-Turn where possible and taking the next right which, should be re-written/programmed to read “make a 4 point turn to the left”. After several of my famed outbursts and frequent venting of frustration we arrived and were pleasantly surprised with the close proximity to Carcassonne Cité. We expected significantly more people and motorhomes in the area but the place was desolate – which suits me better than Sue. 

In the late Autumn afternoon sun the Medieval Cité looks immense from a distance and must have taken some building, particularly as it was begun in the 6^th century BC!!.  Through the ages it has witnessed its share of sieges and sackings as with most castles and strongholds but there’s a nice legend, surrounding its defence by Dame Carcas during the Saracen occupation, which endures and gives the fortress its name. It’s worth a quick Google search....

Carcassonne for us was more of a realisation of technical achievement than a shining example of a medieval town. We’ve seen smaller places which date back to similar times to Carcassonne and they’re lovely. The problem we found with the Cité is that, in order to attract its deserved international tourists it must cater for them and panders to their needs to its own detriment. Where, in the smaller town, inhabitants hold a B&B the Cité staffs a hotel with the necessary service entrances, noise and smells to facilitate its business. The back streets of the smaller places smell of wood fires where the back streets of the Cité are more like those you’d expect in a big city. The smaller towns have a cozy aire about them and you get a sense of intimacy. The Cité loses much of that feel as it’s jammed full of businesses looking for their share of the tourist penny, which is a real shame. We almost bought some lovely nougat until Sue clocked the €20 price tag for a small bag!! We felt the same at Mont St Michael.

After all that’s said, we were treated to a special sunset with virtually no one around. That really was the saving grace to the place (and we wouldn’t have gone into the place in summer). XX

So visited out we settled in for another evening of a little rain, a little wind, a Cognac for me, a wine for Sue and an early move in the morning (the free overnight car park charges again between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.) over the Pyrenees towards Perpignon, destination to be confirmed. If I wasn’t so tight we’d have had a lay-in.