While doing research for the best places to go for the 14th of July in France--la fete nationale--I somehow came across the majestic cité of Carcassonne. Among other things, there were rave reviews about the fireworks. And boy, they were not kidding.
So here I am in front of the fortress walls. I'd like to be able to tell you the history of this place, but all I can say is that it's old. And I mean old. But that's not the coolest part... I was so excited when I found out that this was Nottingham castle in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. So awesome.
Even the horses were in period costumes!
The outer walls of the fortress. At some point, you can see the different materials used at different stages of construction. The Roman level was the coolest, with a row of tiny red bricks.
No railing!
Stephanie, Melissa, and Jacqueline.
In front of the beautiful church inside the fortress.
Inside the church.
Sitting in front of the church eating our sandwiches. We are getting pretty adept at eating "hobo lunches" here in France. At least, we're pretty sure that's what everyone is thinking about us when we eat picnic-style wherever we want.
Jacqueline somehow ended up being our narrator for the day, reading passages out of Rick Steves's guide book. Let me just take a moment to say how much we love Rick and how lost and unfulfilling our travels would be without him.
Here is the castle inside the fortress.
choooocolat...
A whole assortment of whimsical marzipan. Just for you, Meg!
We saw this little kid who had just cleaned out this gift shop. It was adorable.
The interior of the walls.
The little bridge leading up to the castle.
Nottingham!
Let's be honest, a day in France with no crepes is not a day well spent.
Here's where we went to the honest-to-goodness chevalerie (knight) show. It was awesome!
There was this whole little show that they put on, complete with the king and queen.
I'm sure the show was really hysterical. As it was, I didn't understand a whole lot, but naturally I could still laugh along with everyone else and find it just as amusing. I don't actually need to be able to understand things in order to find them funny. These two guys were the best though.
The knight that I chose to support, based mostly on his horse's costume.
All the knights.
The competed in things like: slicing apples with a sword as they rode past,
jousting,
and fencing
(though some opted to forego the swords and just use the axes...
with obvious results).
It was really a great show. There was this little kid behind me who was so concerned for all of them as they fell off their horses or were sword-fighting that they were really getting hurt. Poor kid.
Just me being a creeper. As we were waiting in the crowd to get back inside the inner walls, it was getting a bit chilly and this nice gentleman's back was perfectly blocking me from the cold.
After the show, we went and took a little tour of the castle itself.
Not as good a view as the birds have...
And then, because I had to...
I mean, right?
We had pizza and pasta for dinner,
and then we spent a good hour getting rustled around a big crowd of people, all trying to get to the other side of this bridge to get seats for the fireworks. It was awful!
But the view was nice!
And this is where Jacqueline's and my cameras both died. Unfortunately. Suffice it to say, we found a great spot, made some american friends, and watched the move amazingly magical fireworks show ever. I mean, ever. It was just magical to see the fortress lit up from above by the fireworks. Somehow they get the entire fortress to glow red for about five minutes, which just added to the effect. One of the girls that was with us (the one with the best camera, luckily) was able to get some great pictures of the whole show, so hopefully I can post one soon.
We were so happy to have been able to go to Carcassonne for the day, despite the never-ending drive home. It might be the last time I can spend July 14th in France though, because nothing will ever top that!
1 comment:
Wow. Robin hood. Fireworks. And you look so happy. Love it all!
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