Castletown Carcassonne

---

Set out with trepidation from Cauteret, worried about the brakes on the twisting gorge down into the valley. Took it very cautiously, at one point embarrassingly being overtaken by a cyclist freewheeling downhill. By passed Lourdes and sped towards Carcasonne. Made excellent progress and stopped for a snack at a café that looked dead from the outside but was packed with everyday Frenchmen (mostly) enjoying their midday long meal. Virtually every table had a bottle of red wine on it. The breathalyser must be very lightly applied here. The café did us an off the cuff salad when we explained that we were veggies. It was delicious. The countryside is gentler here with occasional pretty hill towns such as Montreal. Relieved to get on the camp site just south of the old cite of Carcassone. The cite looks stunning on first view with it’s witchy hat topped towers. It looks fairytale (and is actually fake restoration from about 1910). We visited the Cite and it is a bit tourist infested with lots of Brits (due to the Ryanair flights). Our camping spot was very shaded. As we sat outside the van some debris descended from above, we looked up to see a red squirrel. The lower town is much better and authentically French. There’s a bustling centre square ‘Place Carnot’ used partly for cafes. The Streets around have interesting shops including a butchers selling horsemeat. Tucked away in a back street not far from the station is a shop called ‘Best of British’ selling British comforts such as Colmans Mustard, Bovril and Heinz baked beans. They also have a good selection of second hand English books where Jen stocked up with about 8 books.

Thursday 3rd August Carrcassonne

Market day so we visited the square after another tour of the Cite. Enjoyed a coffee in one of the more gentile Salon de The. The market occupied half the square. We bought olives and some salad veg. We cycled along the River Aude footpath up to the apparently disused Hipperdrome. Snacked on lovely fromage chevre pieces of pizza. Later we had a couple of carafes of house red at the campsite bar whilst listening to a live band and playing cards.

Friday 4th August Carccassone

Lazy morning followed by a trip to the Ville Basse to do some shopping and do some surfing at the reasonably priced (3Euro/hour) Alerte Rouge internet café. I went off to the hypermarche to buy some essentials. Again finished the day with a pchet of vin rouge in the campsite bar.

Saturday 5th August Carcassone

Market day in the Ville Basse. Market takes up virtually the whole square on a Saturday and there’s more variety than the Thursday market. Buzzing with activity, lots of local cheeses, breads, olives. In the afternoon I followed the cycle path by the Canal du Midi west as far as the next lock outside town. They still have lock keepers who live in idyllic spots. On the way back to town saw a large terrapin basking in the sun. He plopped into the water as I tried to get my camera out. Followed the canal du midi in the opposite direction (east) out of town to another lock.

Sunday 6th August

Lazy day (for Jen didn’t move from the environment of van) I cycled out for an explore. Eventually tracked down music which drifted across each evening to a restaurant on the river, where middle aged couples danced to a band.

---