May 20: La Cité, the citadel of Carcassonne

 I am so tempted to post all our photos because this was such an amazing place.  But I'm restraining myself.

As we approached the drawbridge I said to Gary, "it's just like Disneyland's castle, except it's REAL!!"

These first photos are the entrance and the town within the walls, but outside of the castle (Chatêau Comtal).

There were a lot of shops and restaurants within La Cité (we had a pleasant lunch in the courtyard of one of the latter) and at least 2 museums of the Inquisition featuring instruments of torture (which we did not visit). There were a few shops with really beautiful artisan wares (jewelry, pottery, art, linens), but there were quite a number pedaling tourist junk, and many of the young children we saw carried swords and shields à la Crusades chevaliers. We were completely baffled by at least three (!) shops turning a  photograph of one's iris into a work of art.  Who knew that would be a thing, especially in a place like this?!

We then toured the Château Comtal, the best part of which was walking along the walls and through many of the towers.  La Cite was in ruins when it was renovated in the 1800s, and the principle restorer Viollet-le-Duc, in "his enthusiasm for the medieval" (per the Rough Guide) included features that were not historically accurate.  Nevertheless, it was altogether impressive.

The first stop on the self-guided tour of the castle was a huge hall where an artist's rendition of the aerial view of the castle and La Cité was projected:

This is the Château :

This is the drawbridge into La Cité:

Part of the tour included the original gargoyles from the exterior of the Basilique-St.-Nazaire, the cathedral within the walls (Gary is really into gargoyles!):

This is an original wall from a home that was salvaged from a ruin in the restoration:

And now, the ramparts and towers and the views:

And the inside of the Basilique-St-Nazaire, in real life in the animated film: