Carcassonne: The Cite

Our snug, two-story flat is in a handsomely renovated medieval building in the narrow rue de Gaffe in the town of Carcassonne. It lies at the foot of the fortified cliff known as the "cite," a UNESCO world heritage site. Carcassonne was settled as early as the 6th century BCE, but entered its medieval Golden Age in the 12th century. The citadel was besieged and captured in the year 1209 by Simon de Montfort, leader of the brutal Crusade against the Cathars. It eventually passed into royal hands and was extended throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. After falling into disrepair, it was rescued and rebuilt by Violet-le-Duc over several decades in the 19th century. It is now an incredibly picturesque location, a kind of fairy-tale city in the sky.

In addition to many shops and cafes and the castle itself, the walled town is also the site of the church of St Nazaire, formerly the cathedral of Carcassonne. St Nazaire is a late 11th-century building that underwent considerable renovation in the 13th century, resulting in the combination of a Romanesque nave and a Gothic choir, but without the jarring asymmetry that we saw at the Cathedral of St Etienne in Toulouse.

Another day trip took Jan, Susie, and Steve north to Albi, where we strolled through the medieval quarter, toured a musuem devoted to the works of native son Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, and visited the fortress-like red brick cathedral church of Ste-Cecile (late 13th-14th century).

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