The next day we checked out of our hotel and traveled to Carcassonne. Carcassonne has a beautiful medeival town, complete with castle, cathedral, shops, and restaurants, built high on a hill. Surrounding it is a more "modern", but still historic city, typical of what you usually find in Europe. This was the only day that we were finally caught by the rain (which had been forecasted our entire trip), but it did not stop us from exploring. With umbrellas in hand, we trudged up the steep cobble stone slope leading up to the medieval city.Restored and saved by Viollet-le-Duc, this beautifully walled city with its pointed towers and gleaming walls is reminiscent of medieval tales of knights in shining armour. The name derives from a legend that when the town was besieged, the mayor's wife had a pig force fed with the last of their grain and thrown over the parapets so that the enemy would think they had plenty of food and could withstand the siege; depending on who you ask, the name is then either from the French carcase sonne (carcass sound) or the Latin carcas sona (ringing of the bells, in celebration of the wife, a Ms. Carsac). In reality, though, the town's name seems to descend from a 6th-century BC Celtic trading post called Carsac. Carcassonne is an amazingly well preserved medieval fortress that was featured in the movie, Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. Ville de Carcassonne is a beautiful castle and is the centerpiece of the medieval Carcassonne. After exploring the castle, we took refuge from the rain in a little cafe, had some soup and warmed ourselves by the fire. We did not want to leave this cosy place, so we just kept ordering snacks until we could convince ourselves that it was time to leave. The rain had subsided a bit and we were able to enjoy the spectacular view of the city on our way back to the hotel.
