Carcassonne

Today we visited the fortified city of Carcassonne.  What a fairy tale place!  Carcassonne, a former  12th and 13th century stronghold of the Occitan Chathars, was later a border citadel between France and Aragon (Spain) but in the 17th century its military significance was lost and the city fell into ruins.  In the 19th century it was saved from a decree demanding its destruction and was restored, and in 1997 it was declared a World Heritage Site.  Imagine what a loss it would have been had it been destroyed!

 This shot was taken as we left our car and walked toward the Narbonne gate. Below is a map of the city showing its double walls.  On the left on the map is the Basilica Saint-Nazaire on the right is the castle.

I did a tour of the castle and walked around some of the ramparts.  This picture is taken looking down at the ramparts.

 This is a close-up shot of the edge of the ramparts.  (I love the zoom feature on my camera.  Can you see that this is the far end of the ramparts from the shot above??)  Magic!

 Here I had walked out of the castle (chateau) again, and you can see the entrance to the castle.  A drawbridge at the end of the ramp would have been raised in times of seige.

 This shot is taken looking down one of the streets of the city (within the walls still).  You can see the Basilique Saint-Nazaire in the background.

And of course, a pigeon!!!
Tomorrow we are heading toward Bordeaux, stopping near Castelnaudary because my guy wants to have a well-known regional dish, a cassoulet, for lunch.  We have made a reservation at a restaurant that was recommended to us by our hosts here at the Chambre d'hote (B and B) in Carcassonne.  Should be fun!  I'll let you know!!