We traveled to Carcassonne today to be sure Ron, Chris, and Mad had a chance to visit. Besides, Dave, Mad, and I want to have cassoulet. The day is beautiful - warm, hot even in the sun. This is the weather we were expecting in the south of France.
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| Dame Carcas at the Porte de Narbonne |
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| La Porte de Narbonne |
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| Ron, Mad, and Chris join Lynn at the park |
We got rock-star parking in the P0 lot's first handicapped space, then stopped at the tourist office at the Porte de Narbonne before climbing up the hill to the castle entrance. While Chris, Ron, and Mad visited the castle, Dave and I made lunch reservations overlooking the castle, then had a cup of coffee in one of the many sidewalk cafe's in the city.
While Dave explored the city in search of good photos, I stitched on my cross-stitch project in the little park next to the castle bridge over the moat - all the while feeling grateful that I have had the opportunity to stitch in some of the most beautiful places in France.
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| Dave's explorations |
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| Lynn's vantage point in the park |
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| Heron on the river in Carcassonne |
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| Dave's explorations |
We all met up in the park just before 1:00 and walked over to the Restaurant Adélaide with views of the castle. While the food was good, the two waitresses seemed to be up to their eyeballs in large groups on the outside terrace. We didn't get our food until 2:00. Also, we were seated at the only table without an umbrella which was a bit uncomfortable in the heat of the afternoon. (I can't believe I'm writing that since today was the first day I wasn't wearing my reliable red fleece jacket! But there you have it. Overnight, we went from cold, dreary, 50s and 60s to 80s and not a cloud in the sky.) Luckily, we were not in a hurry. We were doing exactly as we planned: visiting Carcassonne.
After lunch and a potty stop at the public toilets, we visited the church....
Then worked our way back up toward the castle.
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| Candy shop |
I waited inside the city walls while the rest left by the Aude gate for some exterior views. They came back wondering why there were stripes on the outside walls. I had wondered that myself when I posted on May 17, but had dismissed it as my imagination.
But the topic came up today with new photos, so some sleuthing was needed to find out what these concentric circles were for. It turns out that there was a modern art installation in 2018 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Carcassonne being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The installation, called Concentric, eccentric, by Swiss artist Felice Varini put up 16 neon yellow foil concentric circles on the outside walls of the castle, with the Aude gate as the center.
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| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carcassonne_Art_09.05.2018.jpg |
They were removed after 5 controversy-filled months leaving behind the stripes that remain today. A good discussion of the installation and controversy can be found here: https://mikendavid.blog/2018/05/05/public-art-on-la-cite-de-carcassonne/#:~:text=La%20Cit%C3%A9%20de%20Carcassonne%20(the,was%20just%20installed%20in%20April.
A quick stop at the Dominican Monestary of Prouilhe outside of Fanjeaux, then home to enjoy a beautiful evening on our patio.
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