Carcassonne

 I've wanted to visit Carcassonne ever since, as a 12 year old schoolgirl, I entered the classroom of bearded tyrant and French teacher, Mr. Brookes. He'd pinned a poster of the town on the wall and I was very taken with it.

Today, a mere, well let's just say quite a few years later, I finally got to visit the place.

Regular readers will know that I'm seldom impressed by what's on offer in foreign parts (even more so in France. Obviously. )

However, the old city of Carcassonne is quite simply breathtaking.  In fact, we were so moved by it that we actually forked out for tickets in order to get up close and personal with the walls.

Unheard of......

There are 52 towers and around 3k of ramparts.  There seemed to be an awful lot of going up and down stairs involved. I wouldn't have fancied attempting it in chain mail whilst trying to keep my pike under control.

Well done those 12th century lads.

The city has lots of shops offering to cater for all your 12 Century Crusader needs, plus a few bars and restaurants and the basilica of St.Nazare, containing some lovely stained glass. 

We saw a sign for the Museum of Torture, but, as we've both had experience of being on hold to insurance companies, it seemed unlikely to impress.

I should perhaps have mentioned this sooner, but the city of Carcassonne was given UNESCO status in 1997.

Oh, and the rather marvellous Canal du Midi (240k. long and part of a network of canals linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, and a UNESCO site since 1996)