Carcassonne

Everyone who likes old architecture, history, castle or pretending that they are back in the days of yore should visit Carcassonne, it really is that good and might explain why Michael Jackson at his height went on to book the entire area for a few days while he was staying in the hotel at the centre, which he also booked out completely.

Unfortunately I have come down with a little bit of a cold and also stayed out in the sun a little too much and got a mild case of sunstroke, but then that it me all over, but I refuse to let it get me down.

I met my friends here this morning and made a trip down to the local market for a spot of bargain hunting and to pick up a few last minute bits for the picnic we were about to enjoy down by the lake reservoir. I had not seen so much fresh meat in one place, and to see Duck heads still with feathers and entire Pig legs still with their trotters on was a bit of a novelty for me, but not so much as the fact that many of the meat sellers even let you cut your own slices. Maybe I don't go to enough fresh food markets but that was new to me at least.

For the picnic we drove out to a nice quiet spot in the country and they had a nice time eating and skimming stones while I just enjoyed the sunshine, catching a bit too much sun on my face in the process but I wasn't complaining as I thought it might help chase away the cold that is also looming over me at the moment.

One the way from there to Carcassonne we went past their mini space centre, but sadly it will be closed tomorrow and as we had a long way to go today we couldn't really stop off to go inside, but when we reached our final destination I would not have traded it for a daytrip to NASA.

I doubt that I can do justice the castle, the town that is Carcassonne, but if I start by saying that it the biggest complete and intact medieval castle complex that I have ever seen or heard about, that might be a start. The fact that entire outer wall is still there and the interior courtyard and keep are full of semi modern buildings all dedicated to the tourists that come to visit might give you an idea of the scale, or perhaps I should say that inside is at least two hotels!

Walking around the city I must have taken over one hundred photos of the place alone, and I could have just kept snapping and snapping all day long with a silly grin on my face the whole time, but in an effort to entertain rather than bore you, I will only include on my blog about ten.

After a couple of hours we had to leave, as my friends child has school in the morning and the drive back was a long way, but it was very worth it and I could not thank them enough for taking the time and effort to take me there and back, although of course it was probably as much fun for them as it was for me.

Apparently the new city just outside the medieval one has an airport that Ryanair flies between here and Stanstead in the UK, which was very handy to know as I am keen to show the place off to other people and the fact that we can come directly here and even book a hotel inside the place to return the following morning makes it potentially a wonderful weekend gift to present to someone.