So we limped along the motorway in 4th gear much
to the annoyance of several big trucks that let us know their frustration by
letting off their air-horns as they passed us in the middle lane.
We arrived relatively problem free at www.campingcitecarcasonne.com (trusty satnav did us proud) and joined
the queue to get in. We had emailed to
say we were going to arrive and had received a lovely email in response saying
that it was first come first served. If
you don’t mind staying on an Aire there are several around here, or as quite a
lot seem to do, park on the side of the road.
One thing to note here is you do need your passports – it was quite
funny watching the Dutch woman in front of us giving her husband a right
ear-bashing because they didn’t have theirs and were promptly turned away. It’s not a cheap campsite but there are lots
of very nice facilities – bar, restaurant, snack bar, swimming pool, children’s
play area etc. We have a very nice pitch
that has the stream running alongside – it also happens to be the local fitness
running track, the locals at times do appear to be quite ‘fit’ too...
Day 9 – To infinity and beyond...
The walk into Carcasonne took us about 30 minutes (I walk very slowly), the path along the
side of a stream is flat until you get to the old cite then it’s up and up and
up but the views and the buildings are so spectacular that you just don’t
notice. – security is very tight here,
and one of our first sights was of soldiers carrying machine guns patrolling
the area. The second reminder of the
terrible terrorist attacks France has suffered was the sign as we entered the
ramparts.
The cite is in two parts the outer part is full of
restaurants and shops. The church had
some beautiful stained glass windows and some lovely comfy seats....
We wandered around for a good three hours until lunch time
where we sat at one of the restaurants (there’s lots!) and ate a fabulous
sausage cassoulet (note to self to get a
lovely recipe from my good friend Colleen because I’m sure she has one).
Once we’d finished we joined the queue to get into the inner
cite (the bit where the ramparts
are). I suppose we queued for about
15 minutes and the entrance price was 8.50euro each. This part of the adventure is not for the
feint hearted but I managed it albeit slowly and with some assistance from Del,
but I did it!!!!!!!
The views from the top were just amazing and worth every bit
of climbing. We’d been recommended
Carcasonne from several different friends but wow was it worth it – a definite
must if you are in this area. (I'll upload more photos when I have a better connection as this one is painfully slow)
Eventually we had seen the village of Carcasonne and areas
from just about every point on the compass so we headed home. Now, the walk up was quite steep in some
parts, walking down those steep inclines is pretty painful, thankfully I had
shoes on and not sandals or worse still flip-flops. The walk back (on the flat part) along the
stream was just so pretty with dragonflies swooping across the stream and
little tiny fish swimming against the flow – I could have watched for hours.
It’s been a great adventure today, thoroughly enjoyed it but
with all that walking just only one thing left to do:
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| As they say.... You can take the girl out of Essex..... |
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