blowing in the wind (Carcassonne)

I know, a weather reference, how lame. It wasn't the picture perfect day we had yesterday, but the weather was fine, except for the wind. It blew dust, it blew table clothes, it blew us around, but it didn't stop us from heading for Carcassonne.

So we fired up our duelling GPS systems which we have now named Basil (the voice of John Cleese) and the female in-car system, Sybil. Curiously, they do not always agree. Basil has a habit of seeking out the narrowest back country lanes - much to my terror.

Carcassonne

I know that I have been generous with my use of superlatives and for those of you waiting for that to dissipate, this is not the entry. Carcassonne dominates the skyline in the same way that Mont St Michel does. It is beautifully picturesque. I love France.

A roadside view of Carcassonne.

There are two parts to Carcassonne, the new city that began growth around the mid 1200s and the old walled city, complete with Chateau and Basilica, that began in the 1st century.

Restoration began on the castle in the late 1800s and it was a difficult project because again, there are years of history piled up, building on building. The area has been restored to its last historic iteration, around the time of Louis IX in the 1200s.

My! What a big moat.

The castle itself is impressive and we spent 2 hours wandering its ramparts and towers listening to our audio-guide. It's good to be able to listen to the explanations because the primary school tour groups are like some tourist groups (Jayne won't let me name nationalities) and have a limited attention span, so we tend not to be crowded for space for long.

Dame Carcas or Princess Fiona? Your call.

The town was named as the result a legendary siege led by King Charlemagne.  Dame Carcas, was left in charge after her husband died during the siege. They were certain to lose and were running out of food when she ordered that the last pig be fed the last of their corn. The pig was then thrown over the wall. When Charlemagne saw the pig and the contents of its stomach, he decided that they must have plenty of food behind the castle wall and not wanting to hang about any longer, called the siege off. Seeing the raiders leave, Dame Carcas began sounding the bells. Someone remarked that Carcas - sonne (Carcass is ringing) and the name has remained.

Inside the walls of the city, but outside the castle walls the streets are narrow and cobble stoned, filled with lots of shops and restaurants. There are also some independent museums and a haunted house. Didn't go there, I work in a haunted house and Dave and Teneille live in one. We did visit the museum for the inquisition, a very cheery little place that had lots of implements of torture from inquisition days. Seriously, I can't imagine how someone could use some of those things on another person.

The iron maiden.

The iron maiden was one of the more artistic methods of death. Inside it contains a series of metal spikes. When closed, these spikes pierce the upper arms, thighs and various parts of the torso, including the upper part of the groin and liver. The spikes don't go deep enough to kill, just enough to ensure you die in pain in two days or so.

Why is it called an iron maiden? Why female?

The most cruel methods of torture were reserved for homosexuals (men only in this category) and witches or women who had been having sex with the devil. Not sure how you can tell that by looking at someone. These implements all required things to inserted in places and then they were wound open. Or the huge block of pyramid-shaped timber that women were sat upon - off the ground - and weights were tied to the arms and legs. It was all quite disturbing. In the name of God.

The least torturous method used was the good old guillotine.

I know the easy explanation for this is, well it was the middle ages, but on the back of what we saw in the war memorials in the north of France that happened in the 1930s and 1940s - there really isn't much difference. It doesn't matter how I think about it, I just can't justify it and I will never understand.

Aussies everywhere

On a more amusing note, our B&B has been overrun by Aussies. The other two rooms have been populated by Sydney-siders as well. I would be so not happy to find out I knew them, but we had to say hello.  And we did. and we didn't know them. They are from the northern beaches. "Where are you from?", came the question. "Campbelltown", I replied. "Oh, that's OK." says one of the women. She then went on to express her relief that we weren't from the "shire" (not sure if she meant Manly or Sutherland - probably the former since nothing exists of any worth south of the bridge in the minds of northern beaches people). We made some niceties and departed.

Safely upstairs, Jayne says, "Isn't it good to know that Campbelltown is OK??!!" "Maybe I said it with an apologetic tone," I offered. Campbelltown or the northern beaches? We win. The people are real.  The other Aussies will be on their way tomorrow sadly...