4. Carcassonne

After the first week in France I was beginning to feel burnt out and needed a couple of days free from thinking about property purchase. Decided on the spur of the moment to visit Carcassonne, as I always fancied seeing it. There was nothing to keep me in Varen as I had no more appointments (anywhere) so I thought a few days sightseeing might be the answer. We looked up the youth hostel on my hosts' laptop and saw that the hostel was actually within the castle walls. Cool. I bought a one-way ticket on the train and when I arrived in Carcassonne it was sunny and I really liked the energies of the place. From the station I walked down the main high street and managed to get directions to the Tourist Office, where I would hopefully get my map and directions for walking to the hostel.

It was a bit confusing at first, mainly because of the signposts not always being accurate, pointing to centre of town when it was actually taking me out of the town. Only the last part of the walk was uphill and it was not that far really from the modern part of town where the station and shops were. Crossing over a bridge I could see the castle and was looking forward to settling in within its walls.



Back to youth hostels after paying for hotels and gites, the woman at the hostel reception was asking me a lot of questions, which I don't remember being asked at all the other hostels I've stayed at in France. "Do you intend to buy a house in France?" (how the hell did she know that?) "What do you do for work in England?" (nothing at the moment) "why don't you work in England?" (hang on a minute, I just want a flaming room).

"Do I need to be working in order to book a room here?" I asked in French.
The girl standing within earshot next to me sniggered.
" We get a lot of unemployed people staying here" the receptionist answered disapprovingly.
Unemployed? She thinks I'm claiming off the state? In any case we have to pay for our room in advance, so what does it matter what anyone does or doesn't do in their home country? I felt annoyed with myself for not telling her to mind her own business, but I'd automatically began answering the questions before I realised it wasn't necessary for her computer records. So during my first few minutes in the hostel I felt like I was being looked down on by this snooty receptionist - never mind that I have three projects and a company to start when I move permanently to France. She went back to her computer in the middle of the office and started tapping away at the keyboard, ignoring me, even before we were finished and while I was still trying to talk to her. Oh so busy, I'm so impressed!

I guess I shouldn't expect 5 star treatment in a hostel. But later when I wanted to extend my stay she shocked me by addressing me by the informal "tu" instead of the polite "vous". That was the first time I'd experienced this in France, so it stuck out like a sore thumb. Perhaps I'm becoming more French than I realise by feeling unconsciously insulted by it. I'm older than her AND I'm a customer - so why now a toi instead of a vous? Don't know why but that woman really rubbed me the wrong way.

The other two receptionists were very helpful and polite though. So I'd save up my questions for them, and when snooty receptionist said I'd have to change my room to extend my stay for 2 more days there (and I didn't see the necessity of re-packing my case and re-making my bed, as I'm willing to share) I asked one of the others later, who asked me "why do you want to change your room? you don't have to."

My two room-mates were nice. One was a young Spanish teacher from Costa Rica who was on holiday and on a year's contract teaching Spanish to French kids, and the next day we were joined by a retired Canadian woman who was doing a lightening quick tour of the whole of France after studying French in Nice for a month. One reason I like staying in hostels is because you get to talk to other people than when you stay in a hotel, as it can get a bit lonely at times being on the road. And secondly, because I'm not exactly on holiday but only in France to look for a property, I really don't want to waste resources that I could use on my own home - and it all adds up. I'm not so frugal that I avoid restaurants or buying clothes though !

This is the drawbridge you walk across to get into the old town.

And here is the view from the drawbridge.
The roads were narrow and cobbled, with some shops catering mainly to tourists, selling things like swords, daggers, books on Cathar history, local produce etc.
My Canadian room-mate bought a pewter knight - she said she collects knights in shining armour. I ended up buying, of all things, a teddy bear. It just kept looking at me in the shop, telepathically saying "buy me, I don't want to stay here", so I went back for it.

This is the main road with the tourist shops leading out of the old town towards the drawbridge.

Apart from when I had dinner, I would spend most of my time in the new town, as all of the shops (and estate agents) were there. It had its own atmosphere, was quite busy during the day, but it was hard to find anywhere to eat or drink after 8pm when most restaurants and bars closed. Perhaps it is different during the tourist season, I don't know.

It was about a 30 minute walk into the newer part of Carcassonne - you can see it from this photo (above). I read that that Carcassonne fortress was going to be demolished in 1849 because it had fallen into such disrepair. It caused such an uproar at the time that it led to a campaign to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. The restoration wasn't strictly authentic, as slate was used instead of tiles for the some of the roofs, but at least it is still standing.

The newer part of the town of Carcassonne, on the other side of the Aude river, dates back from the Middle Ages and was created after the crusades. This is the main square, with the fountain and statue of Neptune. Around the square are all the usual cafes and eating places to sit outside. Even though it was February, I was sitting outside.

And this is the canal that runs through Carcassonne - The Canal du Midi.
A major part of the town's income comes from the tourism connected to the fortifications (Cité) and from boat cruising on the Canal du Midi. Carcassonne receives about three million visitors annually.

There is even a Carcassonne Board Game, from which there have been made various later versions, although I haven't seen it or played it myself. It can also be purchased through my blog book shop (see Useful Links) from Amazon UK.

Carcassonne itself has its fair share of supposed hauntings. The Tower of Justice is said to be the most haunted part of the fortified town. A woman in a blood stained dress has been seen floating across the floor and the sounds of chanting has been reported. A portly gentleman has been seen standing and staring at visitors and a poltergeist has been experienced, lifting and throwing candle sticks. Screams of pain and torture have been heard echoing from the outer walls.

I never saw any ghosts myself, or heard any wailing for that matter, although this place must have seen its fair share of gruesome history.

This is the square around the corner from the hostel where most of the restaurants are, and where I would go for my morning coffee before heading into the new part of town to buy my breakfast from the bakers - a sausage roll that would have a hot dog type sausage instead of the usual sort of sausage inside pastry (I've only managed to find it in Carcassonne so far). That would keep me going until lunchtime.

If you are on a budget it is worth eating out for lunch as you can get some pretty good deals lunchtimes only. I had a steak with red peppers and fries plus a glass of wine for about 8 or 9 euros max. The Plat du jour (dish of the day) is the one to go for. It's also worth packing some plastic cutlery in your suitcase so you can buy food at the supermarket to eat if you don't want to use restaurants all the time. I always tend to forget to do that.

Stayed in Carcassonne far longer than I intended, mainly because of wanting to view a house and needing to waiting until Monday before the agents could take me as the keys were held at their other branch. Only on Monday did I learn that the house wasn't in the village that their computer said it was, but in some remote place in the Black Mountains miles away from anywhere. If I'd known about the error before I could have seen another town rather than spending so many days in Carcassonne, as I usually prefer to spend no more than 3 nights in one place.

I did try to do a day trip by train while based there, only there were two trains waiting at the platform and I got on the wrong one, which wasn't going anywhere. I even asked the young couple who were on the same train, and they confirmed it was the right one. The next train wasn't for another hour, and for the brief time I'd planned to have a quick look around the other town it wasn't worth hanging around the station for the next train, plus my enthusiasm had waned by then so I asked for a refund. The woman said no at first, but after persisting and her going to ask someone else, she let me have a refund as a one off gesture but said in principle they don't do that.