After leaving the magnificent views over the Med, we headed back inland and are now safely installed in our new abode for the next 6 weeks. We’re now in the Aude region of Occitanie on the Canal du Midi between Carcassonne and Castelnaudary, just outside the village of Bram. Our base is part of what was presumably a farmhouse building, now converted into several gîtes and sitting within lovely secluded grounds with direct access onto the canal. We assume the farm land that once formed part of this ‘domaine’ has been sold off at some stage as the grounds are surrounded on three sides by agricultural fields. We’ve had some fellow ‘campers’ during our first week, including various four legged friends, and at other times we are completely on our own.
The canal towpath makes for easy cycling or walking to Bram, which claims the title of the largest ‘circulade’ village in Europe. ‘Circulade’ or coiled is a style of architecture, found only in southern France, that dates back to the 10th century and where the streets surround a church (in the case of Bram) or castle in concentric circles to provide defensive protection. It’s quite hard to get a sense of this while you’re in the village and it can only really be appreciated from aerial photos. One of the French boat rental companies has a small base by the bridge at Bram and hirers have been enjoying the last week of the season and the mild weather. Joe is delighted to be right on the canal so we have already been out in his little boat, exploring the canal up to the locks in both directions. Just a pity that there are no little bars to stop at.
We’ve also explored a little way so far on our bikes and can see at first hand the changes to the landscape as a result of the ‘culling’ of thousands of plane trees afflicted by a canker that took place along the canal in the early 2010s. In some places the stumps of the trees that were cut down are visible and in others the recently planted trees line the canal. It will be a long time before they get anywhere near the size of the trees they cut down.
This region is one that Claire had transited through a number of times in the past, mainly on the way to or from Toulouse airport, apart from a couple of day trips with family and friends to Carcassonne, so there will be plenty to explore during our time here, but a revisit to the impressive walled city at Carcassonne was still on the list. The ‘modern’ town of Carcassonne lies at the foot of the medieval walled citadel ‘La Cité’ which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest citadel in Europe. Despite being so large, there are few places where you can actually get a true sense from the outside of how large the citadel is. We approached from the lower town and walked along the bottom of the citadel walls before climbing up to the main entrance.
The Romans began to fortify the city around 100BC, it retained its importance throughout the Middle Ages and was a stronghold of Occitan Cathars, holding out against crusading armies until August 1209, when the city was forced to surrender. Under Napoleon, the city was struck from the list of official fortifications and the fortified cité fell into disrepair with locals making off with most of the stones and there was talk of demolishing it. In the 19th century, following a campaign to preserve the citadel as a historic monument, Violet-le-Duc was commissioned to oversee the restorations. Although there has been some criticism of historical and architectural inaccuracies in the restoration, that doesn’t seem to have put off the millions of visitors who come to see the citadel. Fortunately at this time of year it’s not too busy, although French school holiday week gives a feel for how busy it might get.
You can walk round between the outer and inner ramparts of the citadel and then go into the inner part of the citadel which is now home to shops and restaurants. Apparently the citadel even provided inspiration to Walt Disney for Sleeping Beauty’s home and it certainly has elements of Disney about it as you pass shops selling wooden swords, helmets and shields!
