Visiting Carcassonne: Medieval gateway to the Pyrenees

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Our last stop on our Destination Challenges adventure in Occitanie was Carcassonne and boy did this place blow my mind!

It's home to the most stunning medieval citadel and castle I've ever seen. It's so well preserved that you really feel like stepping back in time and oh did we step back in time!

We met up with a proper medieval knight and he taught us all about his life and ways.
Let me show you how that went...

Carcassonne Citadel and Castle

I made a little timelapse from the balcony of my hotel to share this incredible view with you. ;-)



We could notice some yellow lines on the castle from afar. Now they're there because of an art project from artist Felice Varini.

I kinda like how they dared to combine modern art with medieval heritage. It's also pretty cool that the lines form concentric circles from a certain viewpoint at the entrance as you maybe already noticed in the title image of this post ;-)

It's inside the medieval citadel that we found knight Jean-Francois Vassal who taught us about the ways of the medieval knights. We found out that many hollywood movies about medieval times are filled with mistakes. One big myth for example is that a sword is heavy and that's absolutely not the case for obvious reasons. Swords had to be light and easy to handle and swing at your enemies.

Not only gave he a little course in sword fighting he also taught us about the values and virtues of being a knight. Loved learning about all this at his Centre d'Histoire Vivante Medievale or ILC. If you ever visit Carcassonne please do get in touch with him and he'll introduce you in the medieval world like no one else.

That's not how you hold it... :-)

Budget Traveller Kash facing the fierce blade of Jean-Francois

Some more medieval weaponery

Had to be done ;-)

Protecting the castle in the heart of the Medieval citadel

Teaching the kids some medieval history in a fun way :-)

An absolutely stunning place!

 Apart from the medieval citadel Carcassonne has another UNESCO world heritage site and that's the watergate and ways below. Also from back in the medieval times.

It's also here that the adventure for Kash and I in Occitanie ended.

Kash really is a beautiful soul and it's been a real pleasure tackling Destination Challenges with him! Definitely check out his Budget Traveller blog for some epic budget travel tips. Worth it! ;-)

Carcassonne Instagram shot of the day

Een bericht gedeeld door Bjorn Troch (@thesocialtraveler) op 29 Apr 2018 om 10:31 (PDT)

Destination Challenges in Carcassonne - Facebook Log

Kash and I discovered all the places in Carcassonne with the help of our communities on social media. Find out in the posts below how that went and please do follow my page and become part of more social adventures around the world ;-)

Where we stayed in Carcassonne

We got the chance to stay at Hôtel des Trois Couronnes which has an incredible view over the medieval citadel and castle. 



If you ever decide to go you can BOOK RIGHT HERE

More about Occitanie

How to become an Astronaut in Toulouse

Auch: Hometown of D'Artagnan & Circus

Tarn et Garonne: a hiking and cycling paradise

Albi: A hidden gem in the South of France