Highlights from a short trip to Carcassonne

The northern walls of the walled city at Carcassonne are built upon the remains of the Roman enceinte

Corinne had been asking me for some time to go on a short break to the south of France. A combination of tight budgeting and finding flights at the right price brought us to Carcassonne.

The fortified walled city has a long and convoluted history from Roman times, when the site was known as Julia Carcasum. Surviving the medieval period and the Albigensian crusades in 1209 and sieges during the 14th century, it was restored and rebuilt during the late 19th century. Of particular interest to me were the remnants of the Roman fortifications on a portion of the northern wall. The mix of stonework and brick strata in the walls is a characteristic of Roman building and its survival is a testament to the strength of this construction technique. The fact that the Romans were required to fortify the site is suggestive of the cautious approach they adopted with nearby tribes and the not unreasonable belief of the these tribes bellicose nature.

Market day at Place Carnot, Carcassonne

Today Carcassonne is a sleepy town situated on the Aude river valley, the source of which is not too far away in the Pyrenees. Its culture still springs from the fact that it was once the principal town of the then border province of Languedoc, and yearns somewhat for the Cathar people whose hilltop strongholds and villages populated the region. Unfortunately, the Cathars were targeted during the Albignesian crusade in the early 13th century. Condemned as heretics by Pope Urban II, a crusade was initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1196. The Cathars were essentially eradicated when the last remaining strongholds of Montsegur and Queribus were sacked in 1244 and 1255 respectively.

Early asparagus crop from the Aude

Carcassonne comes alive on Saturdays when the market takes over Place Carnot. Early March is an interesting time in the marketplace because some local produce is available. We found a stall selling the first asparagus from the Aude valley. Typically, the Aude asparagus would not be harvested until late march and asparagus of Spanish origin, mainly Navarre, will supplement the early demands before the arrival of the French crop. Other foreign visitors to the market were a variety of artichokes from Murcia in Spain, a number of which took up some valuable space in my bag on the way home.

Artichokes from Murcia

Bettaraves cuits au four

Decoratively topped jars of vegetable pates

Everywhere I go I find a little something which I would not normally expect, and Carcassonne was in no way different. Many stalls in the market sold dishevelled and unappetising looking beetroot which had been slowly cooked. Some of the beetroots displayed signs of being cooked in a wood fired oven, being charred, sooty and shrunken. Looks are deceiving and once the blackened skin has been cut open a sweet delicious gem is revealed inside. These were most likely the fruits of winter produce or stores. Elsewhere preserves, jams and vegetable pates were to be found in colourful abundance.

Towns at the foot of and throughout the Pyrenees have always had an attraction for me. The Pyrenees themselves dictate the way and pace of life, providing for and imprisoning the mountain villages at various times during the year. The conditions do not deter the people who live there and I could easily see why one would not want to live anywhere else.