Travelled from Nice to Carcassone today (Saturday, 18th September) - quite a long bus journey. Carcassone is a restored medieval town crossing three different stages over many hundreds of years and listed as a protected heritage place by UNESCO. It is a fairy tale sight of turrets and ramparts overlooking Basse Ville. The original settlement was consolidated by the Romans in 200BC - it has a double walled exterior for defence purposes as it is in a strategic position on a canal linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Meditteranean Sea. It was often at the centre of religious and strategic conflicts. Once again Stuart and I got lost in the windy alleyways of this small village/fort. We felt as if we were in a labrynth with each turn taking us away from our intended destination - the only access to the fort, an arched entrance. We were not alone and many of our tour party became lost and we were most heartened when we came across another friendly face.
After Carcassone we travelled into the countryside along a narrow, windy road that followed the River Aude flanked by enormous plane trees with ghostly, spotted trunks, into a little village called, Limoux. Limoux is a charming village where we were lucky enough to spend the night at a Chateaux (almost a small castle) built from sandstone blocks, set around a large internal courtyard with a turret on each corner. Our room was on the 2nd floor which we accessed by the original stone spiral staircase - no elevators allowed.
Everyone loved their rooms. Each decorated to the medieval period, including; four poster, king size beds; vaulted windows; and equisite period furniture. One of our party, who has long auburn hair opened her window from above the courtyard and looked down to where we were - those in the courtyard chanted - "Rapunsal, Rapunsal, let down your hair". C'est magnifique!
Our meal of 3 courses was five star quality, accompanied by beautiful local wine. No-one wanted to go to bed, we all could not get enough of what we were experiencing so we gathered for a night cap in the central courtyard which was illuminated by soft, amber glows, with black tables and chairs on a parquetry style timber deck.
After Carcassone we travelled into the countryside along a narrow, windy road that followed the River Aude flanked by enormous plane trees with ghostly, spotted trunks, into a little village called, Limoux. Limoux is a charming village where we were lucky enough to spend the night at a Chateaux (almost a small castle) built from sandstone blocks, set around a large internal courtyard with a turret on each corner. Our room was on the 2nd floor which we accessed by the original stone spiral staircase - no elevators allowed.
Everyone loved their rooms. Each decorated to the medieval period, including; four poster, king size beds; vaulted windows; and equisite period furniture. One of our party, who has long auburn hair opened her window from above the courtyard and looked down to where we were - those in the courtyard chanted - "Rapunsal, Rapunsal, let down your hair". C'est magnifique!
Our meal of 3 courses was five star quality, accompanied by beautiful local wine. No-one wanted to go to bed, we all could not get enough of what we were experiencing so we gathered for a night cap in the central courtyard which was illuminated by soft, amber glows, with black tables and chairs on a parquetry style timber deck.
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