Pierre tells us about his stay in Carcassonne with his friends! Between sports, unusual activities and convivial moments, they had plenty to do.
With the friends, we had a great 3-day weekend. Inseparable, we meet every year somewhere, just to have fun… And Carcassonne was a very good choice 😊 Meeting point: Grand puits of the medieval city at 9:30 am. Small greeting session around the Grand puits (I hear it’s tradition!), then breakfast on the terrace with a view of the medieval towers please! Very nice!
Then, everyone downloads the escape game :
from the Carcassonne Interactive app and off to the statue of Dame Carcas, at the entrance to the Levis Bridge. We made two groups of three. Objective: to discover the relic locked in the sacred cryptx.
Then we had a drink in a small café before going to eat a good cassoulet on a terrace. Then, we explored the city in all its corners. There are lots of nice little squares and shops.
What’s cool is that the city is also at the cutting edge of modernity: aerial reconstruction of the city in 3D (in the visit of the Castle of the Counts), Virtual Reality Film (at the Municipal Tourist Office). We’re all into new technologies, so we loved putting on our VR virtual reality glasses and immersing ourselves in the life of the City in the Middle Ages, with the costumes and weapons of the time.
In the evening, a short tour of the wine bars of the Cité, then a prolongation in a nice dance bar located in the Bastide Saint-Louis.
Saturday morning, a visit to the
to see the locks and the bell tower of the Saint-Vincent church to admire the view of the Cité and the surrounding mountains. 232 steps to climb, just to wake everyone up. The 360° view is really worth the diversions. It’s simply magnificent!
In the streets of Carcassonne, there are lots of small decoration shops and concept stores. So I’ll come back with my girlfriend to spend a little weekend there, I’ve spotted lots of things she’ll like 😊.
Then, we went to the Halles Prosper Montagné and the market. We stocked up on good things (cheeses, charcuterie, olives…) for our picnic on the banks of the Aude.
In the afternoon, a walk around the :
We took the bus (line n°2) and in barely 20 minutes, we were there!
The tour of the lake is very nice, the vegetation alternates between pines and garrigues, and there are plenty of machines to do sports in the open air. After that, we went on a water ski lift, well wakeboarding. But there is also monoski, wake-skate, kneeboard for those who want… Once the scratch shoes are put on, the instructor activates the cable, stretches it, and off you go! Adrenaline rush guaranteed. Great feeling especially when you exceed 30km/h !
After that, a well-deserved aperitif, then dinner on the terrace with a view of the lake.
Sunday morning, we had a great time visiting the Gouffre de Cabrespine, the special adventurous visit we had booked. On the programme: 3 hours of climbing in one of the biggest caves in the world. ¾ of an hour of magnificent driving through vineyards, scrubland and pinewoods from Carcassonne.
We go to the changing room to put on an orange suit, boots (bring your hiking shoes or we’ll lend you some boots), a harness, a helmet and a headlamp (very sexy). The light is subdued along the walls. We advance by the light of the headlamps.
It is one of the most beautiful in Europe. The sensation is impressive and soothing. It’s as if we were in a sort of cool cocoon (it’s 14°, but don’t cover up too much, we’re sweating under the suit!) Philippe, the guide who has known the cave since he was 7 years old, accompanies us all the way. Wow, the big room of the chasm, 120 meters below, is really impressive. Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, columns, waterfalls…
I didn’t count the number of steps or the number of ladders descended, but we celebrated our baptism of 100 m underground. Then zip line, monkey bridge, Nepalese bridge and then zip line of vertigo, the course is super intense and the silence intriguing. Before leaving, Philippe and I went to see the upper part of the chasm with its calcite and aragonite crystals. Simply magnificent.
What memories! A must do! Next time, we’ll try the special adventurous visit of the underground river.
