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September 23 to September 27: Casing Carcassonne, and prowling Provençe

The city of Carcassonne has a rich history dating back to Roman occupation. Sandy and I hadn’t known too much about it until we were convinced to join Padghams and Haafs for a few days here after our Midi Canal experience. We had rented rooms in a downtown hotel – the Astoria – and a quick bus ride from Narbonne got us to our destination.

Our hosts were English-speaking, and very friendly. This Astoria Hotel was a great place from which to take off for our visits the shopping areas of downtown, and also to the centre-piece of Carcassonne – La Cité – the citadel on the hilltop above the old town centre.

This UN designated “World Heritage Site” was rebuilt it the mid-19th Century, and is a spectacular place to visit. We made three visits to La Cité, and took the tour of the castle keep – complete with audiotour (hand-held machines). Of course, we also spent a lot of time strolling through the “village” of shops and restaurants. It was a feast of history, food, and sensory overload.

Sated with Carcassonne by Monday, September 24, we hopped on an early morning train for Arle, where we all picked up our rental cars for the next chapter of our travels – Provençe, and our stay in Beaucaire.

The Haafs had rented from a different agency so we didn’t see them until we arrived in Beaucaire. However, in Arles, the Padghams, and Sandy and I had lunch in a small square in old-town and then wandered up the street to see the Colisseum that is still in use. It is again a very impressive Roman relic, but we were beginning to feel that we had seen enough stone work – perhaps. In a convoy of two cars, we headed off down the road to Beaucaire for our first experience at driving in France – very civilized – on the RIGHT side…unlike the Irish and the Aussies! ( I threw that in for Nicki Vance in the “land down under”.) Not so civilized, perhaps, was our many u-turns and forbidden left turns to correct our errors in navigation.

Once inside the of city walls of Beaucaire, we U-turned on the same street about 3 or 4 times before we realized that the house number we were looking for was #1, not #10! While we were trying to figure out how to get past the massive door, Dan’s voice from above told us to wait while he came down to let us in. He was calling down from ‘our’ second floor patio.

The three bedroom apartment is beautiful, and well-appointed with furnishings, appliances, cutlery, dishes, and even a washing machine, and a microwave. The patio is lovely, but, except for the first afternoon, we were all too busy traveling around to various cities and sites to enjoy it much.

The streets behind our apartment are very narrow – wide enough for a single vehicle, and a single pedestrian backed against the wall. They are very “old-world” with ancient buildings, arches over streets, and occasionally they widen to allow for small shops and sidewalk cafés – always with men sitting with drinks and cigarettes.

Throughout this week, we have awakened to breakfast and coffee, and then brief discussions about who is going where, and when, folks will return, as we only have 2 sets of keys for the 3 couples. With the Padghams, Sandy and I went to Pont de Gard – the famous Roman aqueduct over the Gard River. We were all just stunned with the grandeur, and historical significance of the construction of this amazing monument.

Also with the Padghams, today we visited the old Roman city of Nîmes. This is truly a beautiful city. We began our tour if the downtown with a visit to the temple and its 3D movie presentation of a bit of the history of Nîmes. Then after lunch, we walked through one of the most complete Roman colisseums (my Latin from high school tells me that this word should be “colissea”) left in existence. Once again, we took advantage of audio guides for the tour, and were led, in our imaginations, through the many historical events that went on in that place: gladiator events, public executions, troop housing, and, in more recent times – bull fights.

After that experience, we headed past the temple of Diane, and climbed the Jardins de la Fontaine, to the ancient Roman tower, the Tour Magne, still standing and overlooking Nîmes. What a view! What a garden! What a city! We were all super impressed by this place.

In addition, Sandy and I visited St. Remy de Provençe, took the Van Gogh art walk, and then were hugely surprised by the nearby amazing excavation of the Roman village of Glanum. This archaeological site had us absolutely stunned with the extent and size of the ruins, and the beautiful guide signs that showed imagined drawings of the original structures and town site.

We could not ignore the city that we are in – Beaucaire, and its nearby neighbour – Tarascon. As with all the other cities, towns and villages in this region, there is history here that boggles those of us who are from Canadian immigrant stock. (Sandy, of course, has much more North American history in her background as her background includes Cree.) We have strolled parts of both old towns, and there’s a peace and serenity in these quiet streets that is very different from our cities back home. Plus, there is decay! Some places have not been very well looked after, and doors and window shutters are rotting and plaster is falling off the old stone work. Mostly, however, there is that HISTORY!! I love it!

Tomorrow, we will probably take a day off from wider travelling, and wander nearby streets. On Saturday, we head back to Arles to drop off our rental car, and then catch a train for an overnighter in Lyon before continuing our train travel to Munich, and Chapter 6 (or is it 7…or 8?)of our European tour. (Are you keeping track?)

We hope that you are all well, and enjoying your lives back home.

The Q, and the Q’ter