Visiting the medieval fortress of Carcassonne

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While fall has now really taken over the Netherlands and temperatures are dropping quickly (even if the sun sometimes fights back like last Sunday), I think back to August when I visited the medieval fortress in Carcassonne, also known as the Cité de Carcassonne.

Gotta fill 'r up first! :P

The nice thing about being in the South of France is that a lot of interesting things are all within an hour's drive. Just make sure you've got enough fuel! :-P

Of course, sometimes you have to get out of the car and read the road signs to ensure that you're still heading in the right direction! :P

As you can see, it was quite sunny, so I had to find the shade to actually take a pic of me without sunglasses. Otherwise I would be frowning all the time!

For the ones who didn't want to walk, you could hop on a cart and let a pair of horses pull you around. I, of course, opted for walking around.. because why not?! ;-)

The whole fortress is super impressive.. and I was not alone. Every year, millions of tourists visit this place as it's one the few preserved medieval fortresses in Europe. I felt soooo tiny!

I'm not an archer, so nobody has to be afraid of me.

Do you know what this things are called? Merlons! And from there.. I had a great view over the rest of Carcassonne. See, you learned something new today! :-P

The Cité wasn't just fortifications though.. there is a whole inner city complete with bars, bakeries, tourist shops and everything. Apparently, the medieval part still has a handful of actual inhabitants! Imagine living in a place where millions come to visit every year.. I'd go crazy!

As it was becoming noon, we decided that we had seen enough. So it was time for some resting on the bench and letting those legs catch some sun!

You shall not pass! :-P

This is the bridge that leads to the gate of the Cité. I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get this shot without any other tourists on it. I should get some kind of achievement prize for that, right? :-P

After this interesting and exhausting visit (I walked about 8 kilometres that day), I was glad to be back in the car going back to our holiday villa! I hope you didn't mind that this blog-post had so many photos!


Of course, I also made a small video of me in the Cité de Carcassonne.. so enjoy!! :-D