Leaving Bagneres de Bigorres was a bit sad. Christophe had made us feel so welcome it almost felt like we were leaving home. We made some lovely memories there but it was now time to head to Carcassonne.
Driving into Carcassonne when the castle came into view it was hard to believe we were going to stay inside the walls of a medieval city. The view of the castle was magnificent!
Walking into the city we had a special welcome. There were soldiers with machine guns! Just before we walked into the city a soldier was couched on the ground with his machine gun pointed at the entrance we were walking through! The gun was pointing right at us! Timing! Obviously doing some drills. I didn’t get a photo. Getting arrested wasn’t part the holiday plans.
Cité de Carcassonne is a medieval citadel with a double walled fortress that contains the Carcassonne Castle, Saint Nazaire Basilica and medieval houses. Like all medieval towns it is a maze of cobbled streets. The castle and the citadel began being restored in 1853 and was added to the UNESCO world heritage list in 1997. It has become a popular tourist destination with streets lined with shops and restaurants. It also has a fancy hotel built in 1909 where many famous people have stayed.
The Cite de Carcasonne has a very long history. It dates back to the time of the crusades and the start of the French Inquisitions. In the 12th century there was a group of Christians called the Carthars who were considered heretics and became a target of the crusade movement. In Rome the pope needed to make it clear there was only one acceptable form of Christianity and it was Roman. It was effectively the start of the dark ages and the French inquisition, during which all the Cathers were wiped out.
We decided to treat ourselves and stay in the fancy hotel – Hotel De La Cite. It’s beautiful and was a great place to relax and enjoy Cite de Carcassonne.
We needed a quiet afternoon so we spent the afternoon in the outside bar area drinking some of the local wines.
That night for dinner we went in search of the local dish the cassoulet. Every restaurant had it!More duck for Steve! The cassoulet is a rich slow cooked stew of duck, sausage and haricot beans. Steve said it was delicious but there was way too much to eat it all.
The following day we did a self guided tour of Carcassonne Castle. We wandered through the castle looking at the many relics found during the restoration. The access to the ramparts was through spiral narrow staircases in the towers. The views from the ramparts were amazing! and the walk around the wall took us past our hotel! We could see the walls from the outside bar area. Very cool!
After the walk around the castle we spent the afternoon around the pool. It was very relaxing reading our books having a few aperols and tasting more of the local wines. The pool was right next to the wall of the basilica. We could see the bell tower. When the bells rang on the hour I needed more wine. They were very loud and made me jump every time.
Having a car made it very easy to go out and visit other places without having to join a tour so the next day we headed out to see Lastours castles. There are four small castles built on a large 300m high rocky ridge. We hiked up to get a closer look.
The climb was steep and we definitely got the steps up! The castle ruins were amazing and are being restored by a group of archaeologists with the help of young people with difficult backgrounds. It always amazes me how castles and villages were built up on rocky ridges so high without the cranes and equipment used today.
We were told by the tour office it was worth a drive to the other side because the view was spectacular. She was right!
We spent another afternoon by the pool and went to check out the lower town for dinner. On the way back we walked across the old bridge. We had been told to make sure we come back at night to see the castle lit up. It was beautiful!!
Our last day we spent the exploring the rest of the Cite de Carcassonne.
We explored the streets and outer walls before we went to the Musee de L’inquisition. It had a collection of torture instruments used for over 200 years to persecute and exterminate the Carthars and heretics and anyone thought to be breaking the law of the church. The torture instruments were pure evil and so barbaric it’s hard to believe that another human being enjoyed inflicting such a painful death to another human being. Another museum went through process of the inquisition and those who were appointed by the Catholic Church to carry out the barbaric process. Anyone brought to trial were always proven guilty. They were doomed. It would have been terrifying to live in the 12th century.
The rest of the day we chilled around the pool again. Staying in the old city walls was a great choice especially staying in the fancy resort hotel. We really enjoyed our afternoon down time around the pool.