The Ham Nomads

16 Mar 2015. <FR> Carcassonne, Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon —

Woke up in the 'camping area', drove around to find the carpark we parked in seven years ago, somewhat closer to 'La Cité', only to find it now height-restricted — so we drove back to where we had stayed the night — it was only a couple of hundred yards further away! When the architect Viollet le Duc began restoration of the city in 1850, he had to make a decision as to what period of its development it was to be restored to. His decision to opt for the 14th century, the time of Louis XI, was inspired. He did extensive research before commencing operations but, in spite of that, there were numerous scholars who disagreed with his interpretation of the structure. Interestingly, more recent studies using computer-generated trials of the structure of the buildings, as well as x-ray and sonar soundings of the parts he couldn't study directly, all support his original decisions. And it is due primarily to le Duc's restoration that, on 4 December 1997, UNESCO proclaimed 'La Cité de Carcassonne' as part of the World Heritage!

When you walk around inside the city, you find a thriving community. Okay, the industries are now substantially tourist-oriented, but it was a community then and is a community now!

Warren's main interest in Carcassonne, as in Albi, was that is was a centre of the Cathar religion. Because its beliefs were grafted onto Christian teachings, the Pope was able to proclaim a Crusade against this heresy in 1209, and the Albigensian Crusade began. This was the only Crusade to wage in Christian lands, in the south of France, in the region of Languedoc. (Actually, this is not exactly true — the Fourth Crusade, delayed in its attempts to reach the Holy Land, turned on Constinantinople, and sacked this Christian city (although, as it was not 'Catholic', but 'Eastern Orthodox', the 'Crusaders' decided that this was near enough to heresy to justify their rape and pillage of the land — the four horses on the facade of St Mark's in Venice are part of this pillage — but let's leave this story till we reach Venice!) The Spanish Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade are two of the worst blots on the Catholic Church's escutcheon!

The Albigensian Crusade turned into an annexation of the lands of Languedoc by the French Crown. The county of Toulouse was the last resistance, only succmbing in the treaty of 1229. But in 1240, Raimond Trencavel attacked the city. He was allowed in to the outer parts of the city, but the garrison resisted attack and the subsequent siege, which Trencavel was forced to lift two months later, never to return. This is the city and the garrison that le Duc has restored.

It is not only a historical monument, but is also a well-used film set. You remember how we visited Robin's Tree on Hadrian's Wall (from the Kevin Costner film Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves). Well, a lot of the footage involving castles in that film was shot in Carcassonne!

A 1:1000 model of the medieval city

Anyway, we walked about the castle (and its museums), and the Ramparts, then we adjourned to "Le Menestrel" in the City's central square, where we were served the best omelettes we've tasted for a long while!

Then we wandered round to the Basilique de Saint Nazaire et Saint Celse. The Romanesque part of it was built in the 12th century, and the Gothic Choir and Transepts were added between 1269 and 1322. The medieval glass in the choir is magnificent, and the two rose windows (13th and 14th century) have to be seen to be believed. The glass may be old, but it is in superb condition! We noticed a rather lovely polychrome stone pieta in one of the side chapels.

After a delightful day re-communing with Carcassonne, we departed and started our drive towards the French Riviera, towards Nice, Monaco and Villefranche-sur-Mer — our old haunts from our last trip! On the way, more interesting travel — we passed one of the smallest tractors we've seen on the road — but the terrain is very hilly in places, so perhaps a large tractor would be more of a liability than an asset! We weren't going to get there today, or even tomorrow, so we had decided to take whatever we could find in the way of stops, and we found a lovely quiet but secure aire on the way.

Distance driven — today, 79 miles ( 127 km ); to date, 15,989 miles ( 25,732 km )