Walks around Town
What really appeals to me about this town is the way that it accepts the past but doesn’t still live in it. Old buildings are refurbished and put to new uses; changes are made when necessary, and the town moves on. Carcassonne has little sentimentality over its history — it’s just there. Certainly, the town will take advantage of it, which is why millions of tourists come here each year, but in spite of the reminders of its past all around, the town itself is no museum.
The posts below invite you to explore the Bastide in particular, and discover for yourself some of the interesting things just around the next corner.
The Churches of Saint-Vincent and Saint-Michel
From the beginning the Bastide was divided into two parishes with two churches: Saint-Vincent and Saint-Michel. Both churches are lovely places to visit and I often find myself in them. Our apartment is about 150 metres from each, one to the north and the other to the south.
The Bastion du Calvaire
In 1825 the City decided to convert the bastion at the south-west corner into a Calvaire, renaming it the Bastion du Calvaire.
Walking to the Cité
Although it’s not a long walk, you do have to go up an incline to reach the Cité. This can be steep in parts, but there is an excellent little train service that runs from the lower town to the fortified Cité during the summer months.
Our Street
I don’t know how old our building is, but, whatever its age, I doubt it has any historic significance. Most of the window panes are made of “old” glass, i.e. glass that was manufactured before the “plate glass” process was developed at the beginning of the 1900s.
Hidden treasures of the Bastide
For every example of decrepitude in the Bastide one can find another of lost beauty restored.
Going, going, (almost) gone!
Some of the most interesting buildings have lost their shine. It is hard to see how magnificent they once were, and easy to see how soon they will be gone.