Preamble
In my previous post I discussed how my wife an I took a trip to Carcassone for the weekend and how I regretted having chosen such a far location for such a short period of time.
Carcassone is about a nine hour drive from where we live and I like to get to any location early in order to make the most out of the experience. But in order to do that we usually have to leave super early in the morning. So basically anytime that we drive for 7 hours or more we will leave the house by 3am. That probably sounds pretty awful but I've developed a good system that seems to work quite well for me and my wife.
Basically what I do is take melatonin on the evening before the night that we are to leave for our trip. That way I make sure that I get a good night sleep the night prior to leaving. I don't take it on the night we leave though because then I would wake up groggy and it would be nearly impossible for me to drive for any stretch of time while it was still dark out.
I always get a bit of mild stress and anxiety before any trip we take that I have recently dubbed "trip adrenalin" and because of that, I generally sleep very poorly the night before any trip anyway which makes it really easy for me to wake up for a 3am alarm. I pretty much shoot up out of bed feeling as though I never fell asleep at all.
So instead of laying awake in bed I drive through the the night on streets with nearly no traffic, listening to a podcast all the while my wife lays fast asleeps in the car. It's really a great system overall.
The lack of traffic typically reduces our drive time as well (especially through the Paris area) and we usually arrive at our destination between 9-10am. I generally don't get tired while driving or throughout the first day either, one of the benefits of "trip adrenalin" I suppose.
I'll take melatonin again the first night in the hotel and possibly the second to ensure a good night sleep and to pay back my sleep dept.
For me this system works perfectly and I've never been tired on any of our trips thus far.
To Carcassone!
The city of Carcassone is located in the Languedoc region of France in the plain of the Aude along a historic trade route connecting the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea. It's about an hours drive from the city of Toulouse and the coastal city of Narbonne making it a good central location to explore the surrounding area.
Nine hours in a car is actually way too long for me to do in one go so we made a stop along the way at a town called St Cirq Lapopie. Its located in the Lower part of the Dordogne region about 7 hours from home so still very far away. We got there between 9 and 10am and spent about 2 hours touring the small village and stopping for a coffee at one of the cafes.
We left around 11:30am or so and arrived in Carcassone by 1:45pm. St Cirq Lapopie was a beautiful town, but I'll talk more about it in a future post.
Brief History of Cité Medieval
The "Cité Medeival" is a historic village fortress in the city of Carcassone. Its surrounded by 52 towers and three kilometers of ramparts and became a UNESCO Heritage site in 1997. It's the main tourist attraction of Carcassone, other than maybe wine.
Its history dates back to the Neolithic period. Artifacts discovered in the area go back as far as 300 B.C., possibly even earlier.
Carcassone was recognized for its strategic value by the Roman's in 122 B.C. They conquered the province of Languedoc and took control of the Cité until the fall of the Roman empire, around the time of the 5th century. From then on the Cité played a major role in several battles throughout history and exchanged hands several times during its existence, with each of its successors adding to its fortification.
An interesting historical fact is that it was the first fortress to use "hoardings" in times of siege, which are wooden shed-like platforms attached to a castle or wall that increases the defenders range of fire. Hoardings were typically equipped with murder holes that were used to drop large rocks or boiling oil over approaching enemies.
As war and battle began to change over time the fortress lost a lot of its advantages, especially with the advent of cannons and gun powder. Eventually the Cité Medeival was abandoned and became destitute. It was mostly an impoverished slum up until the 1800s, even despite it being surrounded by a prosperous cotton and wine industry.
The medieval fortress was saved from demolition in the 1800s by a historian and citizen of the town by the name of Jean-Pierre Cros Mayrevielle and an architect named Viollet Le Duc.
Nowadays, tourism plays a large role in Carcassones economy as does the production of wine. The city is pretty much surrounded by vineyards which makes it a great location to experience French wine, specifically AOC's.
The first thing we did on arrival was take a wine tour at Chateau Pennautier. There we tried 6 different wines and ended up buying a few bottles to take back home.
Admittedly, it was a bit awkward having our dog with us because part way through the tour he started to get fussy in his backpack. No one else seemed to notice but we were worried about disturbing others on the tour so it was a bit uncomfortable for us, much less so by the 6th tasting though ;)
The picture above was not taken on the tour but it gives an idea of what traveling with a dog is like when he is tired and calm.
Inside the walls of Cité Medeival are numerous restaurants and food stands and of course a number of shops selling candy and touristy junk, basically what you'd expect from a such a place.
The only touristy thing that we ever buy are tote bags because they are practical and will be easy to take back to Canada with us when we leave. But we didn't find one in Carcassone.
Lady Carcas
At the front of the main gate into Cité Medieval is a statue of Lady Carcas. She was a Sacaren woman who ruled the knights of the city after the death of her husband. In the 8th century, Charlemagne besieged the city in a battle that lasted for 5 years. By the begining of the 6th year nearly all of the Cités food supplies were depleated. All that was left was a single pig and a bag of wheat. In a last ditch effort, Lady Carcas ordered that the wheat be fed to the pig and then the pig to be thrown from the top of one of the towers.
The idea paid off. Charlemagne ended the siege, believing that the Cité had enough wheat to feed the pigs and enough pigs to throw from towers. The Lady ordered the Bells to be rung and all the people shouted "Carcas sounds! Carcas sounds."
Unfortunately, the whole story is completely made up, a mere legend that had been passed on from generation to generation orally but which had no actual basis I'm reality. It's still an interesting story though.
Cassoulet
One of the main specialty dishes of Carcassone and the region in general is called cassoulet. It's made with duck confit and white beans and it's one of the most delicious traditional French meals that I've eaten in the country so far. Its a super rich and flavorful dish that's served in a piping hot ceramic bowl. Its basically the epitome of a comfort food. I've made it at home once since our trip and surprisingly it actually turned out really good.
Both nights we ate at restaurants in the Cité Medeival. I originally thought that the restaurants would be touristy and that the food wouldn't be very good but both meals were really excellent. I had duck the second night and my wife had salmon. Duck confit is another specialty of the region.
After dinner we took one last walk around the inner city before heading back to the hotel. There weren't a whole lot of people in the streets at that point so it was a great time to take a stroll around the town.
The sun was setting over the fortress on our walk back to the hotel so we paused for a moment to take in the view.
