Carcassonne

22 October 2004

Basilique Saint-Nazaire et Saint-Celse (the former cathedral) and Hôtel de la Cité.

Place Marcou is now occupied by many restaurants.

Following the perimeter of the church brought me to the inner walls again but unfortunately the staircase to its walkway was locked so I was disappointed that I couldn`t walk round the ramparts. I headed uphill past the Musée de l`école (School Museum) and a small bar sheltering below the tall inner wall. The street widened; relatively modern buildings stood either side and they did their best to harmonise with the older structures. Many of the buildings housed restaurants; a peaceful place to have lunch but for the loud (and happy) voices of the pupils of the Escòla Calandreta running around their playground.

The road continued to the busy hub of Place Marcou, an atmospheric suntrap ringed with restaurants and with the central area almost completely given over to tables. There was little room for the square`s centrepiece, a little fountain topped by a bust of Monsieur Marcou. Many of the diners were shaded by trees or by parasols but we declined the waitress` kind offer of a parasol in order to enjoy the welcome warmth of the October sun. Cassoulet (a traditional bean stew) was one of our restaurant`s specialities, and was being enjoyed by many of our fellow diners, but we opted for Salade de chèvre chaud au miel (salad of warm goat cheese with honey) and Salade tiède de saucisson de couenne et pommes de terre persillées (potato salad with sausage of couenne). Delicious. At the next table, a young girl was so pleased with her meal that she spent the time between courses sending a text message home extolling the virtues of her cassoulet.

After lunch I followed the narrow alleyway of Rue St Sernin which ran past a little shop selling tapestries before meeting Rue Cros-Mayrevieille. At a shop selling plastic medieval weapons one young girl was encouraged by her father to try on the plastic "armour" and brandish the plastic "weapons" so he could take a picture of her. I wondered what Monsieur Cros-Mayrevieille would have thought of this.

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