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00:00 intro
00:00:27 Google Earth view
00:01:16 enter town
00:04:45 Castle
00:06:29 wall walk 1
00:09:59 St Nazaire church
00:13:14 wall walk 2
00:15:05 Narbonne Gate
00:16:21 wall walk 3
00:19:06 New Town
00:20:57 Place Carnot market
00:23:08 Midi Canal
00:25:29 Castle museum
00:27:45 evening views
00:29:11 hotels
00:30:23 history
00:32:26 depart
The medieval town of Carcassonne in the southwest part of France is such an important historic landmark that the castle and entire walled town are on the UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. It's surrounded by two fortified walls with a castle in the center. And within the walls is a small village, in a pedestrian zone with historic buildings, some of which date back to the 12th century.
There's a tall inner wall and a lower outer wall, providing two layers of protection for the old medieval city. The main entrance through the massive walls is into this fortified gate with a projecting barbican thatv has stone walls along both si des for protection and drawbridge to create an effective barrier at this potential weak spot and keep out any attackers.
We'll have a lot more to say about this gate later in the program when we walk on the wall all the way around the fortress. But first, we want to enter the town and take a walk along its beautiful lanes, look at the shops and generally get oriented. Right away as, soon as you get through the gate, you'll find yourself on the main street of town.
It's for pedestrians, no cars allowed inside the Old Town except a few service vehicles and some of the local residents.
You will find it's very rewarding to stroll about the lanes that are inside the village. It's not a large city by any means. The village itself is about 400 meters long and just over 200 meters wide, so it's easy to walk around and get a nice feeling for the whole place. And yet there's enough here that you could easily spend a full day or even two days exploring it.
There cannot be very many places in the world that produce so profound an effect upon the imagination and the sense of beauty and history as the old walled town of Carcassonne, especially when you are walking along its wall. Stepping back into the 13th century when this town was attacked by the pope from Rome. More about that crazy story coming up a bit later.
The town offers historical programs featuring costumed guides for visitors and also for the local school kids.
Oh, there's something about castles that appeals to the kid in all of us. It really fires up the romance of the past, and it's really helped along by these costumed guides who put on a show for the little kids and tell them some of the many legends associated with the spectacular castle of Carcassonne.
Within the walls, we have an actual functioning town with shops, there's several small hotels, and there's 50 homes for the local residents as well, with a small plaza in the center or hosting some outdoor terrace restaurants, and a vast pedestrian zone that you'll want to explore.
The main street we walked in on could keep some visitors busy for many hours, maybe for a couple of days right here on this one block. So many shops, mostly souvenirs, but there's a variety of all kinds of goods, clothing and food.
One of the nicest and most popular spots in town is Place Marcou, with its outdoor restaurants and bars, cafes, tables all around it. This is a happy place. It's quiet during this non-meal hour, but during lunch and dinner it gets very busy. Let's have a look at night and you'll see people are out enjoying themselves with a fine meal and some good drinks. It's not just for visitors. Local residents come up from down below to also enjoy the atmosphere.
