The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

THE LAST DITCH

Carcassonne

Published by Tom

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When planning this trip one of the first decisions I made was to visit Carcassonne. When I posted my planned route on my personal Facebook page two friends of mine from Poland said they would meet me there. We booked into the same hotel, just outside the gate of the medieval fortress town and I made a reservation for us at a restaurant on the castle square. I have been looking forward to it.

Speranza made light work of the 280 miles from Mougins, despite some torrential rain en route. Conditions improved as I drove West and the weather was hot and sunny by I arrived mid afternoon. I met my friends for a drink or three (tonight I don't need to drive to the restaurant) and we chatted happily in the shade by the the sunny square before taking a stroll so that they could have a late lunch to "put them on" until dinner.

Carcassonne-1
Carcassonne-2
Carcassonne-3
Briefly revisiting our hotel to freshen up for dinner we returned to the same square and our restaurant. More wine and local food were consumed and the world set to rights. A very pleasant way to spend a Saturday that – had I been in London – would have been spent watching Fulham FC lose at home to QPR in a local derby!

I will come close to closing my Continental loop today (Sunday) as I part with my friends after breakfast and head to San Sebastián. The map of my tour is here. 

6 responses to “Carcassonne”

  1. CherryPie Avatar
    CherryPie

    So what did you think of Carcassonne?
    Perhaps your visit there was too short to gain an impression of the place…
    If so, I recommend a longer visit 😉
    I stayed in a hotel just outside of the walls and fell in love with Carcassonne and the surrounding area; the view from our hotel room, the ambience, the scenery, the history and the conversations over dinner and in the hotel bar with people we had not met before.

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  2. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    I had a good look around in the afternoon and spent the evening there with my friends. It's lovely. Hard to believe that the French government came close to demolishing it once. 

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  3. Sackerson Avatar
    Sackerson

    Carcassonne rang a bell re WWII history. Anything relevant?

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  4. JMB Avatar
    JMB

    Carcassonne is one of my favourite places in all of France. Unfortunately when we did the tour it was only available in French and while I can still read French relatively well, my understanding of the spoken word leaves a lot to be desired. Fortunately my daughter is fluent and she filled in any missing details for me later.

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  5. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    It is not ringing any bells with me, sorry. It was where bits of my favourite bad movie — Robin Hood Prince of Thieves were filmed though. It took me a while to figure out why it seemed familiar.

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  6. CherryPie Avatar
    CherryPie

    Carcassonne is better known for the Albigensian Crusades and the Knights Templar but yes there is a WWII connection.
    The Germans occupied Carcassonne in WWII. The old walled city of Carcassonne is pictured in the photos above but there is also the town outside the fortified walls known La Bastide. This link gives information about Carcassonne and WWII:
    http://www.midi-france.info/1016_ww2.htm
    The author Kate Mosse based her Labyrinth trilogy on the area. The third book in the series is based on the German occupation of Carcassonne.

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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