Toulouse, France, Monday, September 8th

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We set off at a respectable hour to Carcassonne with only a short diversion to the Decathlon shop to buy soccer balls for our sponsor child and the school in Tanzania. We chose the toughest ones, made from tyre material and good for all surfaces. The French countryside is so pretty and ordered, with even the forests and unused land looking like they were well tended. The freeway lulled Keith to sleep so he missed the spectacular view of the walled city as we approached. It looked like something out of a medieval tapestry with its neat wall and cone topped towers.

Once we arrived we realised that the walls enclose a city, with further walls on the inside surrounding a feudal castle built in the twelfth century for the Trenceval family. Along with most of the Southern Counts, the Trencevals respected and protected the Cathares, earning them the wrath of the Pope and the king of France. The king attacked in 1209, but first he offered Count Raymon Roger Tranceval the deal of giving up all the citizens and keeping his own life. The count refused and a battle ensued. Eventually the Count surrendered, but there was no honour in war and he is believed to have been killed within the castle. The citizens were exiled from the area for many years. The king them claimed the castle and gave it to a favourite, also bringing in loyal people to fill the city and provide food and services. Eventually when the original inhabitants were allowed to return they established a new settlement beyond the city walls.

The city was besieged and saved on one occasion earlier by the Lady of Carcassonne. After many months of siege and at a point of desperation, she tricked the enemy into departing. She threw a pig and lots of wheat over the wall, giving the impression that there was plenty of food left and that the siege was not likely to be successful. Another legend tells of how the town got its name. Princess Carcas, ordered the town bells to be rung after Charlemagne lifted yet another siege on the town, and the people cried out “Carcas sonne” (Carcas rings).

Over the centuries the castle and walls fell into disrepair until, under Napoleon I, there was a resurgence of interest in cultural heritage and history. Eugene Viollet le Duc was employed in 1844 to take on the task of restoring Carcassonne. He approached it in the manner of a detective, looking for evidence of the different building eras and the ways of life that had been led here. After a remarkably detailed survey of every minute detail, he had to decide how to carry out the restorations and to which era he would be faithful. The city and castle we see at present is in the style of the restorations and improvements made after the king of France took them over in the thirteenth century. In 1997 the city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNCESCO.

We toured the castle with the aid of an excellent audio guide, which purported to be Eugene Viollet le Duc speaking of his experiences in learning about and restoring it all. It was so convincing that, after a while, it felt as though we were really listening to le Duc. It was a rude shock to hear a bit of Corine’s version in French, because the speaker didn’t sound like Eugene at all. The man providing the guides, an enthusiast who gave 150% to every handing out of an audio guide, was highly amused that I had become so attached to our speaker and let me listen to other versions, with all the other Eugenes sounding like impostors.

At the time of the restoration, people were living in humpies between the outer and inner walls. They were all cleared out over a period of time, with alternative accommodation being provided. Today people live in both cities of Carcassonne with the one inside the walls having a heavy emphasis on providing for the millions of tourists who visit each year. The high prices reflected the fact that the visitors are a captive audience once they have paid to enter.

It was fascinating to see how the defences originally extended in timber beyond the wall line to allow for more effective sighting of and dealing with enemies. They are usually not evident in other castles because of their vulnerability to fire and to rotting, or being used for firewood over time. Careful observation of the stone walls, suggested by the dulcet tones of Eugene, showed where wooden floors would have been, providing sheltered areas to the courtyard below. The double portcullises were operated from different floors with no way of communicating between, so that the castle would be safe from treachery within. There was also provision for boiling water and other nasties to be dropped onto the heads of the enemy. The castle houses a fine collection of sculptures from various centuries. Some original friezes are still visible on the walls, which takes us away from the high priority of defence to the life and culture of a family home.

After a quick snack lunch, the regional speciality not appearing here and all the restaurants having closed their kitchens since it was 3.30, we walked around the walls. Some of the towers do not match, and I could feel Eugene wincing at the 1960s idea that it would be good to show the variety of tower finishes that existed over time. Originally there were some windmills on the towers, making use of the strong cold Cers wind from the mountains and the warm moist Altanus wind from the sea. The modern day counterpart (a wind farm) could be seen in the distance on the mountains.

The time passed quickly on the way home with a snooze for Keith in the back seat and interesting conversations for Corine and me.

Back in Toulouse, we called at the station and joined the longest queue ever to buy our tickets for the next day to Avignon and for Paris a few days later. Booking ahead is much cheaper, so we planned to do that for when we returned from Tanzania. Corine and I joked that the people chatting as new acquaintances in the line ahead would have time to be married and have a few children by the time they had their turn to buy a ticket. We visited a bookshop to buy an extra guide for the walk that we want to do when we return from Tanzania and met a very friendly French couple who were studying the guides too. Just before home, we stopped to examine the shrine to Saint Germaine and to imagine the pilgrims passing this route in times before special walking boots, light weight plastic ponchos and guides that list accommodation.

When Michel arrived home we had dinner and discussed our days. His had been long and full of meetings, a contrast to our free and easy one. We discussed how we had met in Turkey five months ago. Michel’s theory of approachability is that people only approach strangers who are already giving out messages that they are open to responding to overtures. In the case of our meeting in Turkey, we possibly had the two most receptive people on the planet in the one cave church at the same time.

Our new plan for the walk would involve coming back this, way so Michel made the excellent suggestion that we leave the items we didn’t need for Tanzania with them. 19 kilograms later we were able to combine everything we would take into one large pack and two day packs.

The restoration of Carcassone displays a variety of very interesting building technologies.

Christine and Corine rehearse fencing moves on the bridge to the entrance to Carcassonne.

A countless number of contrails could be seen in the sky over Toulouse on Monday morning. In the evening there was none.