ur plans for Wednesday call for a visit to Carcassonne. Doris has been researching this city every since we started planning the trip. It is reputed to be most beautiful after dark when the flood the walls with light.

Therefore, we plan to arrive in the afternoon and hang around for dinner so we can watch the changes in the setting sun and with the lights. Just the beauty of those events made the trip worth it.

Carcassonne was abandoned after the Albigensian crusade. As a result the city was left largely intact because people didn't build over it in subsequent centuries.

In the 1830’s it was restored. The architect decided that since all the medieval pictures of castles (from the north of France where there is a lot of slate) have blue roofs, he’d rebuild the towers with blue roofs.

This tower was built by the Romans.

Click here for more historical information on Carcassonne. It goes back to Roman times.

We start the day slowly and proceed back to Homps for lunch. Somehow we lost the name of the place but it is located at the marina on the Midi. Pleasant lunch for € 101.50 for six, or about $16 per person. Like our lunch in Collioure this was a tourist location - folks on canal excursions eat here so the cost is higher than those frequented by locals. However these meals did include wine and were a bit more substantial than we would normally have in the US.

We arrive in Carcassonne in the mid-aftenoon. There are two sections. The main town if full of shops and is a college town. It seems a bit seedy with the building appearing a bit dirty and less well cared for than the smaller towns we have visited. We walk through the town and look at the shops. Then we cross the river and observe our target. - the large walled old city of Carcassonne. It is impressive.

Plan on a bit of a hike. They like to put these forts on high ground. It is warm - must be very hot in mid summer. As we approach the main gate we find a nice little hotel directly opposite. We go in to rest a bit and for a pastis - someone must have had an upset stomach. Then into the old city.

It is an impressive old walled city. No vehicles, narrow streets. Lots of shops with tourist items. It is a fun place to just browse. Another mistake here. There is a museum in the city with excellent displays of the history of Carcassonne. There is a fee for this museum. By this time we are a bit tired so we pass on the museum. For me, at least, this was a mistake because we have yet to find a museum in a place like this that is not worth the fee.

After our tour, we leave the old city and make our way back across the river to explore the newer portion a bit more. Another pastis and conversation in the large central square and then to the Hotel Montmorency which has an outstanding view of the old city from their top floor restaurant. We go in for dinner at about 7 PM and watch the sunset shine on the castle.

As the evening darkened the lights came on and illuminated the walls. It was fantastic!

Dinner at the Hotel was good but not up to the benchmark set by the Relais Chantovent in Minerve. The cost for six was € 183.75.

Tomorrow we explore some more, and Yvonne is cooking!

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