Carcassonne

January 2018

After a lovely two days away, coming back to Sheffield when all your friends are overseas for weeks with family felt a bit depressing. Luckily, we had the perfect cure; cheap Ryanair flights! The useful website 'Skyscanner' price compares flights (and you don't even have to have a specific destination in mind)! Having grown up in England, Ben, to my surprise, had never been to France and was a wine and cheese novice, something we had to rectify immediately! So of course we picked Carcassonne for a long weekend.

The thing about this medieval french city, is its absolutely gorgeous, but this fact is well known. It's usually absolutely heaving with tourists, however in winter, it's absolutely empty! This does mean most restaurants are also unfortunately closed, as pretty much everything in the old city caters only to tourists. However we were renting an Airbnb and cooking our own food anyway, so this wasn't a problem. Plus, we had one of the best views in town! At night, the castle walls were lit up, making our bedroom view even better.

The old city has two concentric thick fortified walls dating back to its time as a medieval fortress, though much of it was restored in 1853. Some of it dates from Roman times, some from medieval, and some of course from the restoration, so it's the usual hodge-podge of history. 

Obviously it relies heavily on tourism, however it's also well known for duck dishes and wine, so you pretty much know you're going to have a good time!

As with most cities with a long past, Carcassonne has seen its share of drama, from surrendering to crusaders in 1209 - and the viscount of the city ending up imprisoned and then 'mysteriously' dying in prison three months later (gosh I wonder who could have done such a thing! Not the occupiers surely!) to the citizens of Carcassonne being kicked out of their own city (by those same dastardly crusaders).

I have to wonder what happened to those poor citizens who were only allowed to leave with what they were wearing and nothing else. Though, if you think this is harsh, in the previous town they sacked, they killed everyone inside. And when asked how to differentiate between the 'good' Catholics and the Cathars, were told to kill them all as God would know his own. How charming. 

It was incredibly wonderful wandering what would usually be thronging streets, to finding them completely deserted, with nothing but our own echoing footsteps breaking the silence in the chilly air. 

What's truly mind boggling however, is the fact that in the 1800s, the government wanted to demolish the city fortifications! Luckily, the locals were horrified by the idea and successfully petitioned against such a move. 

Our trip didn't just involve wandering and taking in the history of course, we also took advantage of the delicious food and drink available! A trip to the local bakery here...

Cheap bubbles and fresh baguette there....

And a selfie or two to finish off! What an excellent little trip!