Carcassonne – day 6

9 Jun

Today we rode 60 kms from Mirepoix to Carcassone. We got an early start as we were a bit worried about wind and rain, but it turned out fine. It wasn’t too hard a ride, only one climb that was notable. We are considerably lighter this year and can feel the difference. When you have to haul everything you bring, you learn to pack efficiently.
To date the countryside has mostly been flat and filled with wheat and barley, and beans of course for the cassoulet. As we climbed today it turned into beautiful pastoral lands with lots of grazing limousine cattle, goats, and even donkeys. As we cruised down the other side of the hill vineyards appeared until that was all we saw.
Carcasonne is a city with a medieval walled inner city. It was important as a Cathar stronghold which was eventually taken by the Catholics. It is quite magnificent to see from a distance (think Kevin Costner and Robin Hood) However the current city is not from that time, it was reconstructed in the 19th century according to records and what was left. Also, the city has been constructed with certain features that would not have been present then. So it is interesting historically but really just quite touristy.
We plan to have a rest day here tomorrow to let our sore behinds recover and look around. We are staying in a hotel called La Bastide, close to the walled city, an old building remodeled into a hotel with a great view of the tiled roofs and a cathedral. The woman at the front desk was very patient with our basic French and very helpful about explaining things about the city. That doesn’t happen too often.
Hopefully we will have a warm.sunny day to get a good look around.