A Sorta Fairytale

Hello again! 

Welcome back, and bonus points if you picked up the Tori Amos reference in the title. 

So, with the rain still pounding down we made our way to the outskirts of the "fairytale" La Cite de Carcassone and to our very basic yet somehow futuristic Etap hotel (shower pod anyone?) The next morning we were up bright and early - unfortunately the sun still wasn't and the drizzle continued. Undeterred, we braved the castle and firstly took a long walk around the outer walls to get our bearings and some great views of the turrets, walls and the city below. 

We then managed to score free entry into the castle and ramparts area - a combination of flashing our dodgy student cards (if anyone asks we study at King's College London okay?) and my poor French...Simon thinks I told the lady at the desk I was 22, not a decade older (well, she accepted it without question so I obviously look the part!). This section was pretty interesting and accompanied by a cracking audio guide (which although we asked for English was actually a combo of Australian and Irish accents!) explaining the different uses and defences of the ramparts and the extensive reconstruction work done in the 19th century to save the city from ruin. 

After all this history it was time for some lunch - we stopped for a menu (a set three-course meal) at La Terrasse, which Simon had fond memories of visiting. Due to the rain we couldn't make use of the actual terrasse, but inside was a passable alternative. Thanks to Frau and Herr Vogel for sponsoring this lunch!

We sampled the famous dish of the region, cassoulet - an incredibly rich stew of Toulouse sausage, duck and white beans which was delicious yet also like swallowing a pot of duck-flavoured Clag/PVA glue. 

We finished our day-time visit with a visit to the lovely basilica and checking out the shops. Much as I love olives and chocolates, I was relieved to find the famous local chocolate olives are olives made of chocolate, not chocolate-coated olives. Chocolate. Olives. After all this wandering it was time for a lie down in the pod-room and checking in on the French Open final and the Formula 1 (Nadal and Vettel, predictable) - but that evening we headed back to the castle for some more night photography. Behold the results: 

Although Carcassone is beautiful, it's a very restored and tourist-oriented castle and city, so we decided that we should also pay a visit to some of the other Cathar castles in a more original state - that's up next.