Visiting France: Carcassonne

While recently staying on holidays in Villenouvelle, we were so close to Carcassonne that it would have been a pity not visiting it. Not only the history of the city goes as far back as the 6th century BC, which is impressive in itself, but the entire area is really beautiful (we could even spot the range of mountains les Pyrenées on our way there).

We focused our visit on two parts of the town: Cité Médiévale (the medieval fortress, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Ville Basse. Most of our day was spent walking around Cité Médiévale, discovering its maze of little streets, the architecture of the fortress and avoiding the tourists traps.

Upon asking a few locals and seeing some of them all going to the same place to get food, we had lunch at Le Trauquet. A lot of the food on the menu is the same as you will find everywhere in the Cité but at half (or more) the price. They have all the classic dishes of cassoulet and saucisse de Toulouse you would find in the area as well as a selection of crêpes, waffles and other dishes.

After lunch, we continued our walk a bit and headed down to Ville Basse to do some more sightseeing and stopping for refreshments. We spotted some really pretty streets and buildings as well as the many gargoyles featuring on Basilique Saint Nazaire.

While wandering around, the cakes display of Pâtisserie Rémi Touja really caught my attention and I could not resist getting a selection of gâteaux to have after dinner later. They were like little works of art and all had interesting flavours. Walking back up the hilly cobblestone paths of the Cité Médiévale while balancing a box of delicate little cakes was quite the challenge, but they made it back to the guesthouse intact.

If I could give you two tips about visiting Carcassonne, they would be the following: firstly, plan when you are visiting carefully. It is a very touristic site and can get really crowded. We were there at what is meant to be a quiet time of year and it was very busy. You have to take into account that the streets of the Cité Médiévale are very narrow and allow for cars, bikes, horse carriages etc. as well as foot traffic. Secondly, make sure you wear appropriate footwear because you will end up walking a lot. The Cité Médiévale is on top of a hill so you walk up and down, most times on cobblestone paths, a fair bit.

Apart from this, enjoy yourself and do not forget to check out the details of the architecture. You might be surprised with the things you can spot not only on the medieval fortress but the houses themselves (intricate balconies, a doorbell in the shape of an owl, etc.).

Have you visited Carcassonne? What was your favourite part about it?