Our Home in Full Bloom

About three weeks ago I wrote about Spring in Limoux, and how the sun was shining on our blooming garden. I posted four photos of our home to illustrate the effects that the different seasons have had. If you missed that blog, you can see it here.

Since then, we have had a variety of weather as the south of France works its way from Winter to Summer. We've had days of high-20 degree weather, spent at the beach of course (well, in this case, a lake near Carcassonne that had a sandy area), followed by days of cold rain.

A beautiful day must be spent at the beach 

The 'ANZAC' Test on the beach

But in that time, our house has come to full bloom. It is such a magical sight to see our little home covered in small yellow flowers that face up as the sun shines on them. They can be seen from every window in our house, and no doubt provide a bright welcome when we receive visitors to our courtyard.

I just had to share this photo with you, so that you can see for yourself the beauty of our home in France. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I LOVE this time of year.

I love the joy in the air. I love the time spent with family and friends. I love the giving and receiving of thoughtful gifts. I love how Christmas brings people together. I love the traditions that are unique to every family and every culture.

Europe is an amazing place to be at Christmas. From November all the way through until January, the towns come alive with lights and markets and Christmas festivities.

The big blue Christmas tree in Limoux
sparkles at night

The frozen fountain in the middle of the
ice skating rink in Carcassonne

Since November, Limoux has been slowly decorated in anticipation of Christmas. Lights have gone up on every light post in town, all over trees down the main street and in the town square, and a big, blue Christmas tree has been put up on the main round-about through town.

As if by tradition, all of these lights were turned on on December 1, and every night since they light up this little town with Christmas joy. The big blue tree, which happens to be just a short stroll from our front door, lights up and sparkles. Boxes wrapped as gifts have appeared under the tree just this week, and the street behind the tree welcomes people to town with an illuminated 'Bienvenue' sign.

Preparations for local festivities have begun in the town square, with an old traditional-style merry-go-round being installed in the centre, surrounded by brightly-lit trees and small wooden chalets that convert to gift stalls. 

Almost every tree along the side of the roads has had colourful ribbons tied on their branches, and a big illuminated '2013' sign hangs prominently on the way into town.

While Limoux's efforts at Christmas cheer are welcoming and charming, they are modest compared to the larger centres.

Carcassonne has installed an ice-skating rink in their town square, complete with a 'frozen fountain' and electric light display. The impressively-sized rink is surrounded by stalls selling mulled wine, hot chocolate, churros and crepes. A few streets over in another open area, a Ferris Wheel provides a backdrop to a carnival-style display, with stall vendors selling Christmas wares from little chalets.

Christmas markets in Toulouse

Christmas markets in Barcelona

Festive lights adorn the streets of
every town, including Barcelona

We also ventured up to Toulouse, and wandered around their markets, which were comprised of unique and often hand-made gifts, with everything from jewellery to beanies and scarves, kids toys, and home-made sweet treats. There were also a number of food and drink outlets serving the crowds of people with mulled wine, hot chocolate (which was pure liquid chocolate - I know, I tried it!), and potato cooked in a variety of ways (filled spud, mash, chips, etc).

Even in Barcelona at the end of November, we walked through the Christmas markets, which were filled with stalls selling small nativity scene characters and all kinds of Christmas tree decorations. Christmas lights hung across every street - big and small - as we walked through the old town.

From what we have seen and experienced here so far, Christmas is more than just a time for family in Europe; it is a real community event, where people of the town celebrate and enjoy each other's company in the most festive ways.

While we won't be sharing Christmas with our families this year, nor will our gift giving and receiving be anything significant, we will certainly experience and thoroughly enjoy the joy in the air, the way that Christmas brings people together, and the unique traditions of this culture.

Joyeux Noël!

Cite de Carcassonne

You know those moments when you are stopped in your tracks, completely awestruck and just speechless? They don't seem to happen very often these days, but on our first adventure in France, Marty and I had one of those moments...

We had only been in the country for five days when I decided that it was time to get out and explore. Marty had played his first game of footy for the Grizzlies on the Sunday (in 4 degree weather) and had commiserated the loss with the team over night. But I wasn't going to let that spoil a beautiful day in the south of France.

The town of Carcassonne is about a 20 minute drive east from Limoux, and we had briefly been through the town's centre when we went to arrange Marty's visa on our second day here. We had heard about how impressive the castle in Carcassonne was; so big and magical, and worth a visit. So, our first tourist adventure would be to the Cite de Carcassonne.

I should point out that Carcassonne is divided into the old medieval Cite de Carcassonne, and the lower city, built outside the fortified walls and across the river, with a population of around 50,000. We were unaware of the difference when we set out on this adventure.

We drove to the town in the morning, and from the moment we parked the car we had our eyes open for the castle. We stood outside some walls that seemed to run between housing buildings and the car park and main road. At the end of the carpark we saw a big rock wall structure, and we got excited. As we approached, we both questioned what this was, as it didn't look very big. Yet, just in case it was the castle, we continued around the wall to find out.

As we rounded a corner that seemed to bring us into what must have been part of a walled city, we saw stairs that entered this great wall. We went in, walked around, and quickly realised this was no castle. It was instead a prayer garden, with statues telling the story of Christ's crucifixion. It was old, but in considerably good shape, and a nice, quiet place; but not the castle we were looking for.

The Church that we came
across in our search.

We left the garden and started to wander down a street, looking for the next sign of a castle. We walked through streets with closed shops, and through the town's square, but there wasn't a lot of action (I had read that some shops close their doors on Mondays as their day off, and we have quickly learnt that nothing happens in France on a Monday!).

We saw another impressive rock structure; one that looked like a tower among housing buildings. When we saw it we thought it looked much more like what we would have expected. As we approached though, Marty was again questioning what it was, as it didn't have the elements that castles of the day would have had. As we stood in front of this great big building, we came to the conclusion that it was a Church. It too was closed, but very impressive to stand in front of.

So, our search continued. We weren't disillusioned though, as we were walking the small, empty streets of the old town of Carcassonne, taking in the sites of the buildings all crowded in. We wandered along in one direction, assuming that we had covered one side of the town, so it had to be on the other. We noticed some French tourists who had a map, and just as we were about to get out our translation book and attempt to talk to them, they asked someone passing by about the 'Chateau', and the local pointed in the direction we were headed. We were on the right track.

As we wandered along a street out into an opening, we looked up and there across the river was the grand Cite de Carcassonne. This was our moment of complete awe; a moment that words cannot describe, but the feeling will be with us forever. There was no mistake about it; that was the castle we had come to see. 

Cite de Carcassonne

We stopped for a few minutes, just trying to comprehend what we were seeing; castles like that only exist in movies or photos in our world, but here is one right before us. Research told us that there is 2,500 years of history around this castle; fortified with double walls all the way around, and surrounded by 52 towers, this was an impressive structure. 

As we walked up toward it, I asked my personal battle historian (Marty) questions about the walls, and why this was the way it was, and why that was built like that. I learnt about the loop-holes in the walls and towers that were designed for archers, and that the towers were built round so that attackers had no corners to hide behind. I was so excited and impressed to see these things firsthand and try to comprehend how advanced the building of the structure was for so long ago.

Marty was equally impressed with what he was seeing. This is one of the most remarkably maintained medieval fortified cities in the world, and we were walking through it. We wandered through the external walls, across a bridge and through the internal city walls. As far as we could see either way there were walls and towers. 

The narrow streets were filled with shops
and tourists

We followed the crowds of people along the cobblestone roads up the slight hill into the city. Old buildings lined the narrow cobblestone paths, and what would have once been houses were now shops with every possible souvenir you could imagine; while it was obviously catering to the tourist market now, it certainly brought the streets to life with action, colour and noise.

There was so much to see; the pubs, cafes, boulangeries, an inviting shop that sold chocolate by the slab! There were people standing at the doors to their shops inviting us inside and offering samples. 

The entrance to the Keep

We continued along the roads, taking in the sights and sounds and just appreciating where we were. We came to another impressive wall that protected the keep on the inside. Going through the gates we were met with a ticket line to visit the keep, which promised to be intact, albeit renovated and restored for tourism purposes. We decided not to visit the inside of the keep this time, instead we stood along the top of the dry moat marveling at bridge over the moat and the tall towers the stood either side of the entrance.

There was still more to see as we left the inner circle walls of the keep. We came across the city's Church, which was again impressive for its size and architecture. 

It really was a stunning building, with so much character and standing so tall among the surrounding buildings.

The Church inside the
Cite de Carcassonne

As we wandered back through the town, I couldn't help but think of what life must have been like back in the day when this was a thriving and secure city. It was an enormous construction perched atop a hill next to the river Aude; a seemingly perfect location. It has seen so many wars and battles, and was spared destruction to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At night the lights that surround the city cast the most amazing perspective on the walls and towers and really seem to bring the history to life.

For our first tourist adventure in France, we were beyond impressed and the bar had been set high. Fortunately for us, the Cite de Carcassonne is just one of the many historical sites to visit in the south of France, and we have eight more months to explore.

Our photos don't do justice to how impressive the Cite de Carcassonne is. Here are some images that will give you an idea of the size of the structure. And for those interested, the Cite de Carcassonne was featured in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the Kevin Costner version), as the exterior to Nottingham Castle.