Carcassonne and the book 'Citadel' - the Kate Mosse tour

Tuesday 24 June

Carcassonne and the book 'Citadel' - the Kate Mosse tour

It stopped raining during the night, thank goodness, there was quite a bit of activity in the early hours to clear drains and when we woke the floods had receded.  It left quite a mess though, the patio and paths around the house were covered in debris and the road had a few more pot holes and gravel and mud strewn over it.

Rachel had to concentrate on getting Hannah and Jasper in the car and picking up Penelope from her friends place, so David and I did what we could to tidy up in the half hour before we needed to get our bus and metro to the railway station.  

We missed the 8.30 65 bus, but the 63 followed soon after and as we were about to get on the driver spoke rapid French to the other lady waiting to get on, and lit up a cigarette and got off the bus, had a chat to another bus driver who pulled up behind, and I though OMG the bus drivers are on strike!!  However after 10 mins or so he climbed back in, started up the engine and we were on our way.  We learned later that the street one up from Rachel was badly flooded and the buses could not access the terminal, so they had to turn around at our stop.  We arrived at the station in good time and had a coffee while we waited to see what platform our traIn to Carcassonne was leaving from.  

When things go well in France they go very well indeed.  We had a nice double seat with two empty seats facing us all the way, loads of leg room and such a smooth ride.  

Lovely rolling countryside, so vast and so much of it, mostly wheat, corn and the budding sunflowers, and of course in some areas vines for as far as the eye can see. 

 Nothing much wrong with the world from here!

This is the way to travel with your bike on a train!

We rolled into Carcassonne on time at 11.30am, and as we had been here on our last trip it was familiar to us.  

A boat had just come through the lock and the canal and city looked picturesque in the sunshine.  We found our hotel straight away and checked in, we were very early, but the room was ready so they gave us our key/card and we were able to freshen up and leave our luggage before setting out to explore.   

The Terminus Hotel

Our hotel is called the Terminus Hotel and dates back to July 1914 (quite young really in comparison with the medieval town on the hill).  It was a grand old lady in its time and has recently been restored to its former glory.  

The reception area taken from the stairs which 'sweep' down either side.

The lounge area

In 2004 Jean Paul Schaeffer bought the hotel and added it to the chain of "Hotels de Soleil".  It is protected by the "Batiments of France" with the help of a plan of safe-guard and development.

Looking down the staircase from the third floor

One of the main reasons for coming to Carcassonne was to identify areas described in a book called 'Citadel' by Kate Mosse, both David and I have read this book recently and it is one of a trilogy, I am now reading Labyrinth which has been made into a movie.  It essentially follows the lives of two sisters during the latter part of WW2 and the German invasion of France.  They were part of the resistance movement and it is quite a compelling read, if somewhat brutal at the end.  They and their friends and family all lived in and around Carcassonne so we photocopied the map from the book and followed their trail of events around the city.  

The Kate Mosse Tour:  (her words are in italics)

Starting with the station

Gare Carcassonne where Sandrine failed to recognise Max, bloodied and without his glasses on his way to the concentration camp at Le Vernet.

The Terminus Hotel was the Nazi officer garrison in 1944.

We walked up the main shopping street rue George's Clemenceau that leads up to the City.  Half way up we turned right into rue de Verdun, and came across Cafe Saillon on the corner. 

This was where Raoul met poor Cesar. Much later desperately worried about Sandrine being arrested, Marianne took a chance and spoke publicly to Robert Bonnet.

We decided that this would be a good place to have lunch, they were a bit crowded, but after a drink we were shown to a table outside and had a very good salad.

At the corner of Chartran and Verdun there's a lovely bakers shop that looks like it hasn't changed since Sandrine cycled past.

We crossed rue Aime Ramon, he is the unsung hero in Citadel, a real life resistant who died on 19 August 1944, like some of my fictional characters, a victim of the defeated Nazi's spite.  Further down Aime Ramon is the police station where Sandrine unwisely - and against her sisters advice - gave her name and address.  Luckily for her, the officer - could it have been Ramon? - threw it away.

We could see the Cathedral Saint-Michel and carried on down to take a better look, it was being renovated so didn't get the chance to look inside.  The Cathedral is where the fanatic Leo Authie came to confess and then shot the priest after absolution!!  

Boulevard Barbes

From the cathedral we walked along Boulevard Barbes, this is where resistance traitor Sylvere Laval set the treacherous explosives that meant that Raoul became a hunted man.  The little courtyard where the bomb went off is now a memorial to the Nazi capitulation.  

Jardin du Calvaire (Calvary Gardens)

Raoul needed somewhere to hide. He couldn't go to Sandrine - they barely knew one another at that point.  He eventually hid in the Calvary Garden, a sombre walled sculpture park containing fourteen representations of the Stations of the Cross.

Entrance to Jardin du Calvaire 

Leaving the Calvary Garden, it's only a step to Boulevard Marcou where several interior scenes were filmed for Labyrinth in a wonderful old-fashioned townhouse.  

By coincidence, there's a white stone monument to the French Resistance close by in Place Davilla and a magnificent bronze statue commemorating the dead of 1870.  This corner of town is a tapestry of grief.

White stone Monument - The Resistance : these a fighters died for France

Bronze statue commemorating the dead of 1870 (the Franco-Prussian War).  Several commemorative plaques have also been added.

As David and I studied our tour notes and map a lovely French gentleman came up and tried to give us directions, he took the map out of David's hands (not even I dare to do that!) and turned it round and round, as you do, but trying to tell someone so kind that you don't need any help and can we have our map back please, talking different languages, was proving difficult!  So charming, so with a shrug he went on his way with lots of "Merci, Merci, aurevoir ...."

From there we retraced our steps down Boulevard Marcou taking a little detour down Rue du 24 Fevrier 1848 (the start of the French Revolution) to the Cemetery of Saint-Michel.  

This is the tomb of the 'Bonnet' family - could there be a connection to Robert Bonnet? It's so hard to separate fact from fiction.

Inside there are dozens and dozens of family tombs, some owned 'in perpetuity' and some not. 

Sandrine's surname was 'Vidal', she was fictional, but .........

Towards the southern end is a very orderly section of war graves - tidy monuments engraved with crosses, stars and crescents.

And there is a statue of a war-like guardian angel.  It once belonged in Place Gambetta but somebody moved it, just before the Nazi withdrawal, perhaps to keep it safe, I'm glad they did.

We crossed over by the Army Barracks and saw the Bastide from a new vantage point. 

We finished our tour there for the day and made our way back via Place de General de Gaulle.

Through the Portal of the Jacobins 

And through the town down to our hotel.  Maybe not everyone has read Kate Mosse, but she gave us the opportunity to see parts of Carcassonne today where 'real' people live and it was a fascinating exercise, with the rest of the discovery to look forward to tomorrow.

The beds were nice and soft, and the furniture was the original, probably antique!

 

 

Samatan Market and floods

Monday 23 June

Woke up at 6.45 with the sound of thunder, lightning and heavy rain.  RAIN?  Well, the garden did need it.  But by 10.00am it was all over, the sun was out, Rachel had had her French lesson and we were a coffee away from hitting the road again. This time to check out the local market in Samatan.

Another lovely ride through the French countryside, the sunflowers are just a few days away from bursting out in all their glory (I am sure I will be taking a few more photos of sunflowers before we leave).  We arrive in Samatan and find a handy park.  

The first surprise is when Rachel takes us into the 'animal market' - not allowed to take photos here because of Animal Rights Activists, who apparently post gruesome pictures on Facebook and cause problems with the market functioning as a market.   Mmmmm... not surprised really, seeing half a dozen bantam hens squeezed into a small cage wasn't a good look, tiny chicks (looked like pheasant maybe?) jumping over each other - one with no feathers left on its back - but thats farming I guess, I know NZ farmers do much worse things with sows and their herds of cows.  There were some cute little puppies as well, and pretty coloured canaries.  (No, not for eating .... I think)

 Then out of the animal shed and into the sunshine, this market has stalls all over the village centre, up one street and down the other, selling all sorts of goods, knives and saucepans, table clothes and general manchester, 

jewellery, bras and panties (not sure where you try those on!), clothing and of course fruit and vegetables, meats, jams and chutneys 

and organic poultry (I wonder how the chickens felt about that?  Probably better than the geese who have been force fed to produce enlarged livers so that we can all enjoy Pate de Foie Gras?). Yes, I have had Foie Gras and I do think its delicious!  

So we bought our fruit and veges and decided to have some lunch, 

but it was very busy, so we went back to the car and Rachel drove us to the next town called L'Isle Jourdain where we had yet another Plat du Jour.  

It was so hot that we were glad to get home, I had worn Jeans and track shoes because of the rain that morning, so it was great to sit down in the shade in shorts and Jandals with a cup of tea. 

Hannah my little backseat companion

Shortly after, Hannah changed into her togs and I took her over to the pool, along with Jasper and his friend Alex.  Then the thunder started and Rachel came over to usher everyone out of the pool as it is not a safe place if lightning should strike!

Penelope went to Brownies, I started to make dinner and then the heavens opened.  I have seen pictures of hail the size of golf balls and the damage it can do to cars, well, these were not as big as golf balls but very nearly and within half an hour the garden was flooded, 

Alex's Mum called to pick him up, but the storm was too severe for her to get out.  Within another 10 mins the water was up to the back door, and another 10 mins the garage was flooded.  

There was no way Alex and his Mum could leave and drive safely.  So amazing now quickly it came up.  There was a lull for about 10 mins and they took advantage of that to get out.  

This is Jasper standing on the road outside the driveway

Rachel put her gumboots and anorak on and waded down to check that she could start the car ok, they were good, but the road was flooded and there was no way Penelope was going to be dropped off home any time soon.

Such dramas, poor Hannah was upset and worried, and Rachel moved the spare bed into her room so Jasper could keep her company tonight. Poor Penelope has not been able to get home and is having an unscheduled sleepover at her friends place, and is trying to be brave about that, and poor Rachel is having to cope with all this stress while James is in Paris attending a conference with the ATR 72 Managers from all over the world.  It always happens while your husband is away doesn't it?

Nothing to do with the flood so out of context, but of interest?

David tells me ATR 72 bodies are made in Italy, the wings are made in Bordeaux, the engines are made in the USA, it's assembled in Toulouse, painted in Hamburg and tested and handed over in Toulouse!  No wonder James travels a lot. 

Artificial Caves, Prehistoric Cave Drawings, Clan of the Cave Bear (!)

Sunday 22 June

Artificial Caves, Prehistoric Cave Drawings, Clan of the Cave Bear (!)

We left our apartments at Le Clos du Rocher in rather cloudy weather, it had been raining overnight.  

Today we were going to learn more about our prehistoric ancestors.  The first thing we had to do was buy tickets for the tour of the cave drawings, these drawings are so precious that they only allow 80 people a day through in order to preserve them so we needed to get there early.  Our booking was for 11.30am.

We made good use of the hour we had to wait by driving 5 minutes back into town to look at the limestone rock caves and houses that people have built into the rock. 

The National Museum of Prehistory is one of the most important museums about the prehistoric ages and  is housed in a fortress, the Château de Tayac, situated on a cliff above the village. 

The earliest cluzeaux, (artificial caves) either above or below ground, can be found throughout the Dordogne. These subterranean refuges and lookout huts were large enough to shelter entire local townships and were specially dug and cut into the rock by the men of the Middle Ages, to take refuge temporarily and escape the actions of looters and enemies.  According to Julius Caesar the Gauls took refuge in these caves during the resistance.

Rachel pointing out the lovely gardens on the way up, you can just see the man with the broom beyond her wrist.

The road up leading to the museum has houses dug into the cliff side and as you can see from the photo, the owners take great pride in keeping them neat and tidy.  We stopped briefly and Rachel complemented the owner on his lovely garden, he replied in rapid French which had her a bit flummoxed until Jasper came to her aid and translated for her!

Then we were off to see the cave paintings at Font-de-Guame.  This cave features over 200 painted or engraved polychrome representations (polychrome is the practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colours).  This is one of the most spectacular Paleolithic sanctuaries in the world still open to the public.

Sitting in the entrance to the cave waiting for our guide

Wikipedia: "Prehistoric people living in the Dordogne Valley first settled in the mouth of Font-de-Gaume around 25,000 BC. The cave mouth was inhabited at least sporadically for the next several thousand years. However, after the original prehistoric inhabitants left, the cave was forgotten until the nineteenth century when local people again began to visit the cave. The paintings were discovered by Denis Peyrony, a local schoolmaster, on 12 September 1901. The cave had been known to the general public before this, but the significance of the paintings had not been recognised.  In fact we were shown some graffiti, names and dates that had been carved into some of the rock faces before their value was recognised! The paintings date from around 17,000 BC, during the Magdalenian period. The cave's most famous painting, a frieze of five bison, was discovered accidentally in 1966 while scientists were cleaning the cave.

"Five bison, with finely engraved contours and with their bodies painted in black-brown and red, against a background of yellow limestone concretions above a ledge, for at least four of them, form a composition full of life. It includes males and females, and the males are shown with penises." 

 

There were strict rules about no touching the walls and ceilings, and many warnings to duck as we passed through several narrow pathways.  We were only in there for the allotted half an hour but it was very special and our guide was very knowledgeable.

I tried to imagine what it would be like to draw and carve in the dark and dank atmosphere of the cave, there was not a lot of carving as the skilled artists used the contours of the rock to form the muscle mass.  Most of the drawings were of buffalo, even though reindeer were plentiful and their main source of food.

Last questions for our guide, the man in the red trousers

We came out in brilliant sunshine once more, and having seen the real thing we turned our attention to a prehistoric theme park in Tursac.  We thought this could either be a crappy Hollywood amusement park, or it could be really good.

Both James and I have read the historical novels (Clan of the Cave Bear, etc) by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times and were keen to see if this met our expectations.  It was built in a wooded valley and had a pathway through various scenes and activities.  So for a start it was sheltered from the heat and was fresh and well cared for.  The children just loved it, something more tangible and believable than a history book, no matter how good.

Beware these mammoths roar!

Wikipedia: "Surviving Cro-Magnon artifacts and features include huts, 

cave paintings, carvings and antler-tipped spears. 

The remains of tools suggest that they knew how to make woven clothing. They had huts, constructed of rocks, clay, bones, branches, and animal hide/fur. 

These early humans used manganese and iron oxides to paint pictures and may have created the first calendar around 15,000 years ago."

This would have been my best shot........?

It was well worth going to see, they had done a good job of trying to make what life would have been like, realistic, there were even roars from the huge mammoths, and a realistic capture of a mammoth in a trap dug into the ground.

And so back to Les Eyzies for a late lunch.  It was getting towards 3pm when we finished lunch, but we had to squeeze in one more place of interest, not to be missed, Sarlat.

Wikipedia: "Because modern history has largely passed it by, Sarlat has remained preserved and one of the towns most representative of 14th century France. It owes its current status on France's Tentative List for future nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site to the enthusiasm of writer, resistance fighter and politician André Malraux, who, as Minister of Culture (1960–1969), restored the town and many other sites of historic significance throughout France. The centre of the old town consists of impeccably restored stone buildings and is largely car-free."

It was amazing to see, can't help using superlatives - it just is awesomely ancient, amazingly fresh and well maintained, building upon building, can't stop taking photos around every corner, a must have shot.

All the interesting shops - mainly for the tourist I guess, but beautifully sewn goods, table cloths, aprons, pretty lacy blouses, etc, all manner of handcrafts, including speciality knives and of course the inevitable toy shops full of swords and shields and cavalier outfits.  

But this town is known for its Foie Gras and special gourmet foods.

"Foie gras: There are several large foie gras factories as well as a number of small producers of geese and ducks in the region that make foie gras and other cherished products (confits, pâté, etc.) from these birds."

I saw a little shop tucked away just out of the square selling such beautiful mosaics, so bright and colourful, golds and bright reds, they started at around €800 so I gave them a miss, but if I had won lotto.....

........it's been a long, hot day...........

We needed a bit of a sit down, a drink and more ice creams, all the little streets led into the square where tables with umbrellas were set out with townsfolk and tourists drinking whatever beverage takes their fancy.  We joined them, and refreshed went back to the car and arrived home just before 8.00pm after a truly glorious weekend.