Le Pont-Vieux, Carcassonne

The old bridge is the original, narrow, pedestrian bridge connecting the old Medieval City to the Bastide, the comparatively modern(i.e. Post mid 13th Century) part of Carcassonne.

This morning we walked across it and followed the route through the Bastides that the author, Kate Mosse, describes at the back of her novel Citadel, which passes some of the locations of key events in the novel, winding through the narrow streets to the railway station and the Canal du Midi.

A stop for a hot chocolate in a bar opposite the Hotel terminus which served as the garrison for Nazi officers during the occupation, and then a stroll along the canal listening to birdsong.

For lunch a merguez frites sandwich and a beer in a typically French bar with a charming owner, then back to the Cite, via the Pont Neuf, from where this was taken. We've decided on our restaurant for this evening and there's some red wine to be sampled before we go out. This has been our first visit to France for a few years and this weekend has reminded us of what we've been missing.

I may go down to the Pont Vieux after dinner to see if I can get a decent view of the Cite by night; if I do I may just have to change my blip!