Friday: Journey to Carcassone

The journey was nice; Jennifer drove (our little Ford Ka was not exciting, but got us there fine) and I snapped a few shots out the window.

Carcassone is impressive in real life– it’s not just a good board game. It’s an interesting town, restored in the 1800s and very attractive. It feels a little “disney” in places, but it’s nice to see the restaurants squeezing into the existing buildings and squares, giving them life. It’s much better to have it alive and disney than torn down or neglected– any day.

The cathedral is known as Basilique Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse de Carcassonne; it’s a beautiful place.

After the cathedral, we returned to the streets of city. Over the city wall you can see the lower city. In the second photo, Jennifer’s just ahead of the lower wall, while I’m shooting from a short street headed up into town. From there, we continued along the city wall toward the castle.

From here, we circled around to the castle entry. Below is the bridge across the moat, then a shot of Jennifer on the bridge with the entry behind her. The next picture is half way through the castle, as we walked along hoardings built over the wall.

From the castle wall, we shot back at the protected sortie area at the head of the bridge. A pretty interesting idea: protect it from the outside with a wall, but ensure that there’s no protection from the castle side in case it falls. The next picture is from the castle overlooking the postern entrance to the city– I’d hate to advance up that hill under fire!

The castle was also improved in stages over time; after the original fell in 1209. The restoration, by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, is mostly to the period of King Louis IX after 1249. It was important for a while, but fell into disrepair as the border moved further and further away.