Carcassonne is a small city in the south of France, located southeast of Toulouse and most well known for its ancient fortified city that sits atop a hill, la Cité de Carcassonne. The city's name comes from an old legend, during a siege of the city. After five years of siege, with no hope in sight, a woman named Dame Carcas made a last-ditch effort to save her people. Using all of their remaining food, Carcas fattened up a single pig and threw it over the wall. This tricked their attackers, giving the impression that those inside the city still had plenty of food left to survive. Soon after, the siege ended and Carcas ordered the city bells be rung in celebration. In French, the word meaning to ring is "sonne", and thus birthed the name Carcassonne.
The second weekend of my study abroad, I once again traveled with my newfound Singaporean friends and Shaofeng; this time to the city of Carcassonne. It was only about an hour train ride from Toulouse. Upon arriving in the afternoon, the fortified city was only short walk from the train station, but as it appeared from behind the buildings, it was clear why it's the main attraction of the area.
Making our way into the city was no easy feat (I now truly understand why hilltops were so attractive among medieval castle builders). For some reason, Google Maps was directing us up the side of the hill thinking a little dirt path was the best way to enter. It was pretty steep, but a rewarding climb once we made it to the top, with views out over the rest of present-day Carcassonne. We realized soon after though that we had entered from the side of the city, and had we just kept walking around toward the front, there was a nice paved road that led right up to the entrance. Anyway I'd like to believe that our entrance made for a more exciting experience.
It was honestly quite cool walking around inside the city walls. It was a maze of little alleyways all lined up with shops and restaurants, which really transports you back in time to what it could've been like living in Carcassonne hundreds of years ago. Though in awe at the medieval architecture, I did still manage to take some photos while walking around. We also had the opportunity to walk around the ramparts of the city, along the outer walls, which gave a pretty cool 360 degree view around the areas inside and outside of the city walls.
After a long day exploring the fortified city of Carcassonne, we enjoyed our first experience at Amorino, a large gelato chain all over France. Though this first time eating there, I just assumed it was a local joint in the area (oops!). Anyway I ordered a waffle with chocolate syrup and chantilly cream on top. We ended the day with a beautiful sunset on the horizon, followed by a "blue hour" sky which popped against the light gray stones of the city, and then made our way to the Airbnb for the night.
