People complain that Carcassonne is crowded and touristy. They clearly have not been here the week before Christmas.
We are one of 5 families currently occupying our hotel. No wonder I got such an amazing price on this 5-star establishment. There is one other hotel here in the Cité, the walled fortress of Carcassonne. So I guess there are maybe a dozen or so folks spending the night in the fortress. Not that we're feeling smug or anything.
OK, we're feeling very smug.
Today we visited the castle within the fortress. They did an excellent audio guide and I was a very happy camper getting up close and personal with the beautiful castle and fortifications, plus the amazing views. The weather has been lovely and before some clouds rolled in we had wonderful distant views of the snowcapped Pyrenees.
I've been doing a lot of reading about the Cathars and about Carcassonne, plus I've wanted to see this place for a long time, so it's sort of surreal to be here. And I'm loving every minute of it.
We are one of 5 families currently occupying our hotel. No wonder I got such an amazing price on this 5-star establishment. There is one other hotel here in the Cité, the walled fortress of Carcassonne. So I guess there are maybe a dozen or so folks spending the night in the fortress. Not that we're feeling smug or anything.
OK, we're feeling very smug.
Today we visited the castle within the fortress. They did an excellent audio guide and I was a very happy camper getting up close and personal with the beautiful castle and fortifications, plus the amazing views. The weather has been lovely and before some clouds rolled in we had wonderful distant views of the snowcapped Pyrenees.
I've been doing a lot of reading about the Cathars and about Carcassonne, plus I've wanted to see this place for a long time, so it's sort of surreal to be here. And I'm loving every minute of it.
Taken from the castle, I took this shot to show where our room is. Not, alas, in the tower in the foreground, but if you look to the left of it at the level of the bottom of the "hat", you'll see a small round tower in front of the church, and that contains our spiral staircase, with our roof to the left of it.
I've usually been careful not to put too much detail about our whereabouts while we're traveling, but in this case we're protected by a moat, drawbridge, portcullis, two defensive ramparts, and 1000 men-at-arms with crossbows and trebuchets, so I think we're ok.
Today, in addition to touring the castle, we went down to the "new city" (it's a little less than a thousand years old), where we had lunch and went wild in the Christmas fest. We ice skated, enjoyed the "luge" (inner tubes on frozen ramps), and rode the Ferris wheel. Afterward, back at the hotel we asked the concierge to show us the best suites (the one with the terrace is *amazing*) and then Wesley had a wine tasting with the sommelier in the wine cellar, reached by hidden door in the paneled library. Does it go without saying that a good time was had by all?
Oh, and on the 3-page list of the most illustrious guests who have stayed here (Walt Disney, Princess Grace, QE II, and so forth), we were happy to find our good friend the Brown Fairy himself.
Today, in addition to touring the castle, we went down to the "new city" (it's a little less than a thousand years old), where we had lunch and went wild in the Christmas fest. We ice skated, enjoyed the "luge" (inner tubes on frozen ramps), and rode the Ferris wheel. Afterward, back at the hotel we asked the concierge to show us the best suites (the one with the terrace is *amazing*) and then Wesley had a wine tasting with the sommelier in the wine cellar, reached by hidden door in the paneled library. Does it go without saying that a good time was had by all?
Oh, and on the 3-page list of the most illustrious guests who have stayed here (Walt Disney, Princess Grace, QE II, and so forth), we were happy to find our good friend the Brown Fairy himself.