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The fortress itself in Carcassonne is free of charge to enter, but it costs around £9 or so to enter the citadel. We had a wait of around eight minutes to buy tickets, but I was impressed at the organisation and clarity of the operation. Here’s Liam excitedly waiting to go across the bridge.

Much of what is visible here in terms of the roofing was recreated in the nineteenth century, but it’s still imposing.

There are extensive views over the surrounding area and the entrance ticket allows visitors to walk a near complete circuit around these ramparts.

An old window.

Liam keenly looking at something old.

More of the rampart walk. It wasn’t particularly busy when we visited, although during the summer months it’s recommended to buy an advance ticket to ensure access.

And Liam walking along it.

A worn away step.

I think that this is entirely recreated, but it’s where the defenders would pour things over anyone below trying to gain entry. There was a museum element to visit next on this tour, but that sufficiently interested me to get its own blog post.

Liam, inspired by the imposing buildings. Well, or something like that.

This somewhat concerned me for a brief moment, but I’m pleased to say that it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as this sign suggested that it might be.

Carcassonne is divided into two parts, one is the castle side and the other is the Saint Louis District on the other side of the River Aude. This latter settlement was constructed in the fourteenth century and is laid out in a grid pattern and there were once medieval fortifications around it, although these have been taken down. There were lots of arguments between the two settlements until they were united as a single commune in the nineteenth century. In the above photo the two settlements are visible, separated by the river which is where the bridge is.

The remnants of the Roman fortifications. I was suitably fascinated by this survival and went to have a look at them, more of which later on. The anticipation of it all!

A model of the castle at the end of the tour. It takes around ninety minutes to look around the site and it was all well laid out with sufficient signage to explain what was going on. For anyone who is wondering whether to pay to enter, I’d suggest that it’s worthwhile as it’s the heart of the entire castle.

Sunday was the only full day that we had in Carcassonne and so it seemed sensible to spend that time exploring the castle itself. We walked to the outside and it wasn’t overly busy, but there were inevitably a fair few people milling around.

It’s an undeniably large structure and it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site. There has been a defensive structure here since Roman times, with some of that still visible, but it was during the Middle Ages that it was significantly extended in size and scope.

We started our visit by walking around the exterior of the castle to help get our bearings.

I took plenty of photos of our meanderings, although I’m not sure why I took quite so many. For anyone who has time to waste, the entirety of the photos from this trip are at https://www.flickr.com/photos/julianwhite-uk/albums/72177720316520462.

There were plenty of steps and slopes. The castle had started to be neglected from the middle of the seventeenth century and, in 1849, the Government of France decided that they’d demolish it. That was seen as entirely sub-optimal by numerous people and efforts were made to repair and restore it, a decision which seems to have been for the long-term benefit of the local area. Following the intervention of the President of France, restoration work began in 1853 and although some of it was not really ideal and not quite appropriate, at least it meant that the building was saved and it has given some elements rather a quirky feel.

There are sweeping views of the local area from all directions.

Stone. There’s a lot of stone.

There’s a horse drawn carriage that goes around the perimeter for those who don’t want to, or can’t, walk it.

Not everything is accessible, but it’s all in a reasonably good state of repair. It took around 20 minutes to walk around the castle, although we spent some time faffing and taking photos. It’s certainly a useful way of getting an understanding of the scale and size of the whole complex and there’s no charge for walking around.

Our intention was to eat at My Beers, but they were rather busy, so we went to the more sedate surroundings next door of Au Bureau, part of a national chain.

A motorbike at the entrance. I’m sure it symbolised something, but I’m not sure what. We had turned up after 21:00 and so weren’t sure if they were still welcoming diners, but they did and fortunately they spoke English since the efforts Liam and I made at French were a little sub-optimal and didn’t obviously benefit any party.

The chicken burger, which met my expectations, and Liam has some sort of beef burger which is visible in the background. I liked the variety of sauces, the food was well presented, the chicken was tender and it all tasted of a good quality, so I couldn’t ask for much more. The drink is a Ruby Leffe, which is something that I haven’t had before and is a red fruit beer, aromatic and more interesting than I thought it perhaps might be. I’ve been looking out for this in UK bars, so I was pleased to see it.

It was busy in the large restaurant, the atmosphere was welcoming and the service was polite and efficient. The reviews of the venue are average, but there were no issues that we noted and everything came out promptly.

Liam made me have a dessert, a heap of ice cream with popcorn. I usually skip desserts, but it was an occasional trip away for me and so I felt that I deserved it. All told, we were pleased with where we ended up and it was useful to have something more substantial than the more snack based menu that we were expecting from the bar next door.

On the way back from the restaurant Liam decided to take a little short-cut and got us lost. I pretended that I wasn’t annoyed.

This bar is a part of a national franchise, a nod towards the growing craft beer trend that is continuing to take place across France.

I got fridge envy seeing this.

Unfortunately, we visited on a Saturday evening, which meant that the bar was packed and there was some loud music blaring out from a band. The service was prompt, polite and helpful, with the venue having a welcoming vibe. It did mean that it wasn’t quite the visit we wanted, as we had hoped to get food and there were no spare tables available. I like the concept, but couldn’t see a beer list and they might be well served by becoming Untappd verified. It was an extensive range and they had sourced local, national and international beers.

The prices were reasonable, although it was a little difficult trying to unpick which brewery was brewing each beer and I struggled to read the bottles in the fridges.

I liked the design of this bar, this is certainly on-trend. It’s located in a retail park out of the centre of Carcassonne and so I was moderately surprised at how many people had got there (we had walked fifteen minutes from our hotel).

As we were on the continent, we decided to go al fresco with our beers. Although the music was perhaps a bigger reason to go outside if I’m being honest. I went for a Vertigo from BAPBAP brewery, and it was a decent IPA with a fruity edge to it. It gave us an initial problem that we needed food, but luckily, I noticed that there was a restaurant next door so this was a plan that didn’t require much thinking about. As for this chain, it’s an excellent concept as France needs far more craft beer venues. It’s the future.

There’s a bus that goes from the airport at Carcassonne into the city centre shortly after each flight arrives. However, we weren’t going with that convenience and especially not at the luxurious price point of €6 each, so we decided to walk. I have form here, since I walked to and from the airport last time I came here.

Liam wanted us to walk along the equivalent of the M25, but my much calmer and more fearful mind thought that we’d take a rather more quiet and peaceful route.

Liam claimed that I was walking us into a retail park, but I’m a professional at these things.

And as if by magic, we stumbled into a McDonald’s. This was handy, they had charging facilities for my phone. Incidentally, and I don’t want to get sidetracked, but this was decent value at €6 (the same as the bus fare) and I got a fish sandwich which was better than I had anticipated. For food critics, we did have a little more local food as well later on during this weekend, but this was a suitable lunch for us. And, yes, I know it’s Heineken, but McDonald’s isn’t yet known for its craft beer range. Maybe one day they’ll have some Coolhead beer.

I twice got entangled by this bloody tape.

Some old vehicle.

Professional looking signage as we headed towards the canal.

I admit that the scenery wasn’t always spectacular.

But it improved once we got to the canal.

Approaching the centre of the city. I mentioned to Liam that there was an impressive castle at Carcassonne, but he was quite sceptical as he still couldn’t see it by the time we reached the centre.

That’s some canal… But more on this canal in a later post as we did a walk along it.

Liam, still sceptical, asked if that tower was something to do with the castle. I encouraged him to keep faith that there was actually a big castle to see.

This was a bit of drama, some hoarding that had fallen on a car that the police were trying to remove. I think they wondered why I was taking a photo, but they probably didn’t know I had a blog that needed some vague effort being made at content.

Liam by now had spotted the castle.

I think he was pleased that I hadn’t misled him.

And here we are at our luxury accommodation. By luxury, I mean so cheap that Richard wouldn’t stay there, but Liam and I don’t have very high expectations. The walk took just under two hours including the stop at McDonald’s and we were unanimous (well, I was) that the €6 was better spent on food and drink than on a bus fare. All rather lovely.