I really don't know how many times I’ve been to
La Cité Carcassonne. It is a place I never tire of seeing because I always find
something new each time we go. My first visit was in the early 80s when I
stayed at the youth hostel there. Since then I’ve gone numerous times with my husband, our
kids, and friends.
Le Quatorze Juillet,
The Fourteenth of July (Bastille Day) is beyond amazing to see there. There is a lower, modern
city of the same name on the plain below
La
Cité, but we only visit the
fortified
Cité
up on the hill.
Carcassonne’s main claim to fame, besides being used in
films, etc., is, that it’s the oldest
continuously
lived in fortified city in Europe. (The site has been occupied in different
forms over 5000 years!) It may not be the oldest fortified city, but no other
has been continuously lived in without some breaks here and there. It is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| During our last visit |
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| La Dame Carcas, who saved the city, so it is told... |
Winding streets, restaurants, shops spectacular views of the
city and countryside are only a few of the marvels this place has to offer. The
origin of its name is from (it had a Celtic name Carsac, before the Romans),
the tale of a lady named Carcas, who saved the city from capitulating to a
siege by taking all the remaining food, feeding it to a pig, then having the
pig thrown over the walls to show the enemy they still had plenty of food left.
It worked and the enemy left!
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| There are folks who live her full time |
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| You can see the modern city below... |
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| The reason the tower roofs are all different is because when restored, they didn't really know which style was the original! |
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| I didn't know they had room within the walls of the city for this! |
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| Down below, the jousting field... |
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| Underground, the ruins of a Roman villa. I got down on my knees and stuck my camera through a vent to get photos! |
The last time we were there was just last year, and we
didn’t get to stay long. We’d planned to spend the day there but, terrorism
struck and not only were we locked into a restaurant in the
Cité, but the police closed
the entire
Cité
down and we had to leave as soon as it was safe. You might have heard about
what happened on the news. We were saddened by what happened and went to visit
a vineyard soon after to remind us of where we were and how precious life is.
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| Our son particularly liked the carved faces and gargoyles. |
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| Never ending views... |
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| Just to give an idea of the sheer size |
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| My kids the last time we went with them in 2009...memories are wonderful. |
Carcassonne is one of the places I ALWAYS recommend when
someone asks what to do in France. We will go back again, and we will make more
memories there because it is X-tra special to us, and always will be.
Watch around 1:56 for the real beginning and 11:40
and
after for more spectacular works and the grand finale.
Missed some of my A to Z 2019 posts? Well look no further...
Photos by Buie-Collard
Hi Lisa - glad you've listed your other A-X posts here ... I'll be back to read. I've always wanted to visit Carcassonne and sincerely hope I can get to visit - you've given us a wonderful series of photos - great X for Xtra - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThat is an intriguing and beautiful place, wow!
ReplyDeleteI love the views and your photos. Amazing! I hope one day I get to see this place.
ReplyDeleteThe terrorism struck I bet that was scary.
An Xtra place indeed, I love Carcassonne too!
ReplyDelete