No travelling with the caravan today, it’s a rest day in the beautiful city of Carcassonne. We were staying just outside Carcassonne in a place called Cazhilac, don’t ask me how to pronounce it. Cazhilac is pretty much a housing estate with a campsite on the edge of it. It was a perfectly good campsite, with a swimming pool, but that wasn’t the reason we were in the area We selected it as it was an easy drive to Carcassonne.
Two days doesn’t really do Carcassonne justice, it’s such a different place by day and night. The ambience in the evening is hard to describe, somewhere in the middle there were restaurants in a courtyard, which were to die for. We had some Crepes and a coffee, they had big TV’s with the World Cup on, we’re massive footie fans and for us, it added to the occasion. Although people were watching the screens, the main purpose of most people’s visit was to eat. Balmy weather this evening, it was certainly high 20’s but wasn’t too humid, perfect for sitting out.
When writing these blogs and filming for vlogs I always come back wishing I’d made more notes or filmed more video. This was one of those times, however, I was there for a holiday primarily, I didn’t want to be a slave to the camera. Hence I only have one photo of the courtyard, we did enjoy it though and would 100% go back.
We visited twice, once during the day, it was a bit busy, but not to bad, and again in the evening when is was less busy and very relaxed.
It’s a great mix of historical build and entertainment. I’m not a really big castle fan, Mandy is though. I tend to get a bit bored after a while, much like a child does 🙂 However, with the shops and restaurants there’s enough for an adult child such as myself!
If someone had said to me “You’ll love Windsor Castle as inside it they’ve now put shops and restaurants” I’d probably be horrified. But here, it works really well, especially in the evening, people actually go there to dine. It’s a living, breathing town as well as being a castle. Actually it’s maybe more like a village.
Above you’ll see our YouTube video of our visit. We were quite surprised at how big the place was, it was also very busy. You can walk freely around the inside and the outside. I think there was a section that you could pay to go in, although we didn’t bother, there was more than enough to keep us entertained. I think the paid part might have been to walk around the ramparts. We could have spent a lot more time there than we did, because there’s so much of the place to see.
In the evening we took a short drive to a bridge which gave us a great view of Carcassonne. You’ll find this towards the end of our video on YouTube. Not many people had the same idea, and you do get stunning views. It’s worth doing a quick internet search for Rue du Pont Vieux, 11000 Carcassonne Center, Carcassonne. ( The Old Bridge )
This is a great vantage point to see the building and a perfect end to an enjoyable evening. As the Sun drops behind the horizon it really brings the walls to life with a beautiful orange hue. You’ll see what I mean if you watch the vlog above.
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