CARCASSONNE
The 13th century fortified citadel
Carcassonne and its mediaeval 'Cité', now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the 'ville basse', (the 'lower' or 'Roman' town), the Aude river and the Canal du Midi (another UNESCO site!). It is a town within a town, a maze of narrow cobbled streets within austere ramparts of thick walls and turreted towers, but bustling with life and colour. Traffic-free, you will be able to look around at your leisure. At the centre of the Citadel lies the Chateau Comtal, a fearsome castle where the lords of Carcassonne lived and ruled: your holiday includes free entrance to this monument.
But there's more to the Midi than Carcassonne: throughout this vast region stretching from the Massif Central to the Pyrenees mountain range, a region of broken landscapes with vineyards squeezed in among rocky outcrops and forest, you will find the remnants of a tormented past: the epoch of the Cathare movement of the 13th century and the start of the Inquisition, the Mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau and the buried treasure of the Abbé Saunier, the Priory of Sion.
And then there's the wine: no less than 5 appellation contrôlée
surround Carcassonne with some of the best 'undiscovered' wine france has to
offer - the Minervois, Corbières, Fitou, Blanquette de Limoux and Cabardès
are all easily accessible.
