A Year Abroad: October 2013

As a last ditch travelling effort before going home, I made a day trip to Carcassonne. I had never heard of Carcassonne before coming over (not even the board game), but apparently it's the second most visited city in France after Paris. It wasn't too busy the day I went, but I there were still quite a few people there.
It's about 4 hours away from Bordeaux, so I had a fair trek to get there. Leaving at 5:40am, I arrived at around 9am. The station is in the new city, about a 20 minute walk to the fortified old city. The attractions in the old city open at 9am, so it was a good time to arrive. Being the traveller I am, I prefer not knowing a lot of stuff about where I'm going (I didn't even know where the city was from the station). I knew if I just walked around, I'd see it on a hill. Hey presto, that's what happened! I then hadn't taken into account that fortified cities would only have a few entrances and exits, and this city was pretty big! I got lucky, and the way I was heading, I came across the back entrance. As it was so early, there was no one else there, so it was pretty surreal walking into the stony, cobbled entrance of such an old building with no one else around. The view over the city from this entrance was also pretty cool. Later, I found out this entrance was called The Aude Gate. Before actually entering the city, I walked a fair way around the outside of the city, between the outer wall and the city wall.
I just started randomly wandering around the city. There are heaps of places to stay in there, so it's pretty well-kept now. I came across the Chateau Comtal. There was a 5,50€ entrance fee, but being a resident of France, it was free! That's the cool thing about a lot of the historical attractions in France, they're free, or significantly cheaper, for residents (I officially became a resident after 6 months of living here). So, off I went. The chateau isn't the typical nice room and furniture chateau, more of a castle that's been turned into a museum with different displays and such.

So here's what I learnt:
- The city was founded sometime during the 5th century, but Romans had lived on the site long before
that.
- Sometime during the 460's, Saint-Nazaire's construction began (the basilica in the city).
- The actual fortress was built sometime during the 800's.
- The Trencavel's were a rich family during the turn of the first century. They pretty much ruled the
bottom of France and considered themselves free from the official law, despite there being a royal
family on the throne. In 1067, by way of marriage, they acquired Carcassonne, and built the Chateau
Comtal and the rest of Saint-Nazaire.
- In 1209, it became a citadel between France and Spain after Monfort took control from the Occitan
Cathars (Christian movement in opposition to the Catholic church) who were holed up there during
one of the crusades. He also added to the fortifications of the city.
- 1240, the city surrendered to royal rule, and a lower city was built (later destroyed during the 100
years war). The fortress though could not be breached.
- During the 1800's the city fell into decay. Due to a change in commune borders, the city changed
hands and had less of a military presence. Soldiers there to maintain the city found it difficult and
eventually parts were used as stone quarries. People did still live there, but in poor conditions. In the
late 1800's it was 'rediscovered' by an architect who set bout restoring it.
- The lower town is actually called Saint-Louis.
Pretty cool, huh?

After the chateau, I spent a few hours wandering around the city and found the main gate, which had more of a dominant appearance, but the back one was still cooler. I then headed up to the Saint-Nazaire Basilica. It was beautiful! The windows were so cool.
I still had a few hours left so headed back down into the main town, passing the Jacobin Gate, Saint Michel Cathedral, and Saint Vincent Church. I then double back and spent some time at the art gallery. Before heading home, I wandered through the main shopping streets of the town and then jumped on the 5:30pm train home!