A Day Out In Carcassonne: Art, Alleys and Antiquity.

I began my writers retreat at La Muse Inn on Janurary 9th.  It is about 35 minutes away from the city of Carcassonne, up in the Black Mountains.  I was travelling by train and John kindly offered participants the opportunity to sign up for a ride package.  This meant you got picked up from the station and taken into town or sight seeing once a week.  There were two trips to Carcassonne, one into the Cite, which is the old walled castle, and one to Lastours, where the four Cathar Chateaux were high on a mountain top.

I was excited to go into Carcassonne for the first time.  It has very narrow streets and passages.  It was quite different to my experience in St Malo and Dol.  

We were dropped off at the station and I walked straight down the entrance to the town and came upon the large market square.I was surprised there were so few stalls. 

It was a magnificent square and the market seemed swallowed up in the vastness of the space available.

There were lovely lamps on every corner and a huge marble scupture in the middle of the square.

We had been given a map by John so I started exploring the streets. 

One thing that stands out to a Canadian eye is all the fantastic doors, windows and shutters, as well as balconies one sees in Europe. It has been suggested I should do a calendar of my door pictures lol.

And of course they come with all kinds of intereting handles and door knockers.

It was great to see so many art galleries in the city.

And here is another one down the street.

The architecture in Carcassonne was so beautiful and of such a variery of styles.  Also you had to keep looking up as there is so much to been seen on the upper levels.  That's where the bells are. lol

The stone work was also incredible.

There is a tap in this ornate concave structure. A public water supply from the past?

Here are some of the windows I had to capture with my phone camera.

Some with shutters and some without. :-)

And this one with the flower pots was very high up.

Down at the outer walls of the ciry I found this wonderful arched gateway.

It lead to another beautiful open area with a long avenue of plane trees.

These plane trees can be seen all over France.  I first saw them in St Malo.  They used to line the Canal du Midi, offering shade to those who travelled across France on this magnificent Canal.  

The plane trees were struck down with a fungal desease that was transferred throught the roots of the trees, and because the trees were planted so close together along the banks, and in these avenues, many trees have been lost.  

The unusual appearance of the branches is due to a treatment called pollarding.  

I had to take a picture of the cool Citroen car parked outside a cafe. Such a symbol of France.

This building housed the cafe, and it looks ancient.

Everywhere I looked I saw shutters, open and closed.  I love this concept and don't   understand why it was never adopted and kept alive in England, or Canada for that matter.  

Art, art, everywhere you look.

At the end of the Rue du Verdun, I found the Musee Des Beaux Arts.

What a beautiful space.

Outside was such a tranquil courtyard.

Inside was also calm, with the high decorated ceilings, classical pillars and sweeping staircase.  It was the home to sculptures.

Here is the elegant courtyard.

At the end of of Rue de Verdun was another huge square. Across the street stood a colourful old school building, sectioned off into the girls side and the boys side. The good old days.

Next I found the Post Office and got some prepaid envelopes so I could send Beth her birthday card. With that one and only errand run, it was lunch time and I wanted to find somewhere that wasn't too touristy to eat. As I wandered down the Rue des Barbes from the Post Office I saw a little place that was packed with what looked to be locals.  There was no sign on the cafe, but it looked inviting so I went in.

I was surprised that the lady spoke  such good English, and was invited to sit down at the window table.  She handed me the menu and when I picked it up I was so surprised to see "SUNSHINE" written on the bright yellow sheet.

I felt right at home.  As many of you know, I perform for kids as Pamela Sunshine. This was too funny and made me smile.

I told the lady my story as I ordered my smoked Salmon panini.  

As we chatted I asked her where she was from, and it turned out she came from Peterborough, a town about forty minutes away from where I used to live in England. The synchronicity I keep experiencing here is quite startling.

After eating I had to hurry to the train station to meet with John and the other laidies from the retreat. Once again I passsed the lovely Canal du Midi and got some quick shots of the boats moored there.

John took us all to the grocery stores and the bakery to stock up on supplies for the coming week.  

Soon we were off on our way back through the beautiful countryside to our mountain getaway.

The river runs right through the villages in the valley.

Even the villages have the avenues of plane trees.

Back to the chapel of Labastide. It is just opposite La Muse

La Muse is a long building with an amazing history.

We are situated in the perfect location for walks into the mountians, and Jena and I did some exploring.  But that my friends, is another story.

Mountain Trails, and the Road to Roquefere

One day, when the skies were blue and the air was slightly chilled, Jena invited me to acompany her on a walk to the next village, just down the hill, Roquefere.

As we left Labastide I noticed the date above this door, I hadn't walked this way at all, and it was amazing to see how old the buildings were in this little mountainside village.

Built in 1893.

These shutters are so pretty. It turned out that this house belonged to a British couple, both of whom are playwrights. 

Further down the road there was another marker in the top of an arch, 1888.

As we left the village I got a shot of the sign, at this point as was still having a hard time remembering how to say it. lol

We headed off down the hill. It is quite a quiet road.

Before we knew it Roquefere came into view.  Jena had been here before and visited the cafe.  

The river that runs through the vallley in Labastide also flows through Roquefere.

Roquefere has a huge chateaus right in its heart.  It is built right on the rocks, and reminded me of Mont St Michel and Carcassonne, where I saw this same technique. 

We passed the chateau and walked round the corner to the little cafe.

We had to pass the other restaurant in the village.  This one is a gourmet establishment and is mentioned in the MIchelin reivews.

La Fenial is open every day except Monday, but you have to ring the bell at the house next door, and the man will come and open up for you.  They sell crepes and croissants, amazing cafe creme and also postcards and local jams and delicacies. Jena bought some eggs from Madame.  

We had a lovely visit here and then headed back up the hill as it was getting dark. 

We passed more great buildings and the river.

A few days later, we decided to walk across the bridge at the bottom of our valley and up the opposite hillside and take the mountain route to Roquefere.

Jena had walked this earlier and seen the Pyranees. 

The river was low here, but later in our stay it became much stronger after some heavy rians.

The paths leading up the steep hill are quite narrow and lined with drystone walls,  They are well maintained and have rocks embedded on the ground so you don't  slip as you walk. 

At the top of the hill we met Miranda, who was having her lunch out doors and taking in the incredible view.  The weather was great, to say this was January.

Jena and I joined her for a while and took in the vista.

As we moved on, we passed more drystone walls.  Up here there are terraces made years ago, all using this technique, It is amazing to imagine how they built these supporting walls so long ago. 

One thing I noticed was how many of the trees still carried the dead brown leaves.  they hadn't all fallen off, like I am used to seeing.

We came upon a little hut on the hillside.

Here is the view looking down on Labastide from the opposite hillside.

And the views were wonderful.

Soon we joined the asphalt road that serviced the other side of the mountain.  We turned left and headed down towards Roquefere.

In the trees you can discover the ruins of old homes.

We saw these rocky structures on the skyline opposite and wondered what they were.  We asked at the cafe and were told that they were in fact the four Cathar chateaux at Lastours. We were just seeing them from the opposite side of the mountain.

Soon we got a view of Roquefere through the trees.

I spied this exposed tree root, and it was art to my eyes.

It was quite amazing to walk down the hill and see the village come closer and closer.

Here is the chateau from a grander perpsective.

And we could get a birds eye view of the Cemetary..

Before we knew it we were in the village. 

The chateau in the sinlight.

Everywhere in this hilly place you see tereraces built., allowing for gardens etc.

Once again past the river.

We made it too La Fenial, our little coffee shop  This time I treated myself to a crepe and a cafe creme, after our long hike.  It was with lemon juice and sugar and so good.

Inside La Fenial is very warm and homey. 

They do their menu in French and English.

After discovering about the history of the Cathar chateaux we had spotted on our way over the mountain paths, we set off back up the road to Labasaatide.  I was feeling pretty impressed with myself as we had had our entire conversation in the cafe in French.  :-)

All the villages are well lit with beautiful lamps at night.

Across the river I spotted this hut.  As it was so far away I did not realize that it was the lavoir, used by the village ladies to wash their clothes so many years ago. I had seen the one at the entrance to Labastide, but had not known what this hut was.  Only later when I was commenting on the fact that I hadn't seen a lavoir at Roquefere , did Jena explain that this was it. I never did get across to see it more closely.

Beautiful heather on the wall by the river.

Good bye to this charming village.  The air is so fresh and clear here, and the walking is so peaceful, as you hardly see another living soul. If and  when you do meet the locals, they are so friendly. 

I did do some more challenging walks, that took me many hours to arrive at distant villages, but that my friend, is another story.