Carcasonne, France

It was 4 days of straight driving from Cordoba to Antwerp so we decided to break it up and stop for 2 days in Carcasonne. It was absolutely beautiful!! The weather cooperated with us and the sun came out (although it was windy on the second day).

The old city

This city dates back to Roman times which is why it’s called the ‘old’ city. However, the castle that makes is famous today was built in the 12th century – the same time as the ‘new’ city on the other side of the river.

The old city is like a fairy tale. It really is incredible. I’ll let the images speak for themselves:

The image above with what looks like circles on the castles is thanks to Swiss artist Felice Varini who was commissioned in 2018 by Tourism Carcasonne to make an art installation (the circles were yellow). Needless to say, many locals were not happy with the results saying that it made Carcasonne look like a target. Here’s what it looked like:

_{Image taken from: https://www.amc-archi.com/article/felice-varini-s-empare-de-la-cite-de-carcassonne-exposition,8506}

The ‘New’ city

There wasn’t a lot to look at in the new city – it was more like an ordinary city. However, the 12th century Basilica is of note. When we walked in, someone was playing the organ. We sat for a while and listened while the cleaning lady cleaned all the chairs. (you can hear the organ in the video below)

Organ music (you may have to turn up your volume to hear it):

We loved Carcasonne and we so glad we decided to stop here! Up next: Antwerp, Belgium for a little while to complete some admin tasks and catch up on a few things (including family).