Bonjour! I appologise for my absence - the trip wee're on at the moment is frantic in its schedule - but only because we're fitting in so much fun! while I am in Lourdes today, I wanted to post about my weekend in Carcassonne. I'll do a Lourdes post soon. Meanwhile, if anyone is interested in hearing about our 'Tour de France' trip, one of our guides is keeping a blog - so visit Pete's site for more regular updates and great photos.Carcassonne is a medieval city in the south of France. It's been the subject of many books, but the author I know best is Kate Moss. So while wandering about the city I was invisaging the events of the Cathars war and stories from her novel 'Labyrinth'. I am constantly in awe at just how old these towns are, the history and the stories that these roads could tell..... I spent quite alot of the weekend 'imagining'.
A highlight of the weekend for me was going to see the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing in the old amphitheatre of the castle. We had a fantastic night, enjoying Mozart, in the open air, watching the stars come out. Just purely magical!
The history of Carcassonne is embedded with religion, politics and wars. It's complex and deep. I cant even summarise it here. But every street we walked through took us down another pathway to more stories.
Despite there being loads of other tourists here, we had a thoroughly enjoyable time, and found the locals incredible welcoming and friendly.
Oh, this sounds marvelous! So glad you're enjoying your trip. :)
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am SO jealous! I've been to Paris many times, but I've never been to Carcassone and it's the one place I'm dying to visit just because I've read so much about the Cathars and Montsegur. I'm really enjoying your holiday posts and I hope (and am sure you are) enjoying yourself:)
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