Thursday 24th September - Narbonnaise Gate We headed uphill to see our first close up view of the battlements and came to The Narbonnaise Gate and the Levis Bridge. They were both built around 1280 during the reign of Philippe III and consists of two enormous projecting towers and a very sturdy wooden bridge. This is the main entrance to the Medieval Cite.

Thursday 24th September - The Chapel of Notre dame de la Santé We were headed for the Medieval City and had to walk the streets to get there. Along the way Jannie tried on some Chukka Boots and had the girl hold them aside for her to pick up on our way home. Through the Square Gambetta and up Rue de Pont Vieux towards the The Old Bridge which was built in 14th century. This is a typical medieval bridge and was the only link between the bastide and the medie...

Thursday 24th September - The Story of Carcassonne The history of Carcassonne began 1000BC and it was called Carsac and in 1BC the Romans took it over and it was renamed Castellum in the 4th century. The city suffered long periods of occupation at the hands of the Visigoths and the Saracens and it was integrated into the kingdom of the Francs in the 8th Century. In the 13th century in response to the Cathar heresies, Pope innocent III sent Simon de Montfort ...

Thursday 24th September - Morning Coffee We did the usual and the new cereal is rather strange. Was meant to be crunchie clusters but got lost in translation somehow and is big flat bits of cereal. Talked to M&N and the girls and the reception was pretty good for a free call on Face book. A far cry from the days when M&N were over here and rang home collect because they could not afford the cost of the call!! We went out to La Place Carnot and sat...

Wednesday 23rd September - Lunch and Onwards to Carcassone We had lunch and went and got the car and soon continued on towards Carcassone. The streets in Carcassone were even narrower than we had previously experienced but we found the street where our apartment was. We rang Lydie Pierrot who owns the apartment and had to wait for 15 minutes for her to arrive with her 6 year old daughter Margot who is just starting to learn English. She was delightful. ...