Travel Tales

  • Reflections
  • Prev
  • Next

A Heroine, A Pig and A Tale to Tell In Carcassonne

Enjoy our Series: Spring Fling in Western Europe
Show More Posts
  • Medieval Musings in Sarlat and Other Dordogne Villages
  • A Heroine, A Pig and A Tale to Tell In Carcassonne
  • A hike to remember ~ St. Remy to Les Baux, Provence, France
  • Paddle Under Pont Du Gard For The Most Amazing Views
  • Chamonix is waiting ~ lace up your hiking boots.
  • Annecy Will Give You Reasons To Wish You Stayed Longer
  • Discover the soothing sounds and breathable pace of Ile Sur La Sorgue
  • Villefranche-Sur-Mer, Once A Preferred Playground Of High-Society, Still Charms
  • Nice Is Nice – Either Way It’s Nice

A Heroine, A Pig and A Tale to Tell in Carcassonne.

Carcassonne is a Medieval Fortress with a Heroine, a Pig and a Story

Carcassonne, France

Today’s destination was Arles but our plan was to first switch to a later train to Arles in Carcassonne, so as to have time for a quick visit. Leaving our luggage at the tourist office, we caught a taxi to the medieval castle town (we had three hours before our next train).

FRANCE Carcasone fortress 1The walled town of Carcassonne is a magnificent, and strategically placed, medieval fortress with double-walled fortifications and numerous watchtowers. Continuing maintenance and reconstruction are assuring those in the tourism industry it will remain so. FRANCE Carcasone tourist poster entrance collageThree million visitors a year cross a dry moat and file through the “S” curved entryway. The “S” curve was designed to squelch any enemies’ thoughts of ramming the main gates.

There are many impressive citadels, fortresses, castles and chateaus in Western Europe but not all come with story about a heroine and a pig.

The legend of how Carcassonne got its name goes something like this:

King Ballak ruled La Cite [today’s Carcassonne] some 1,200 years ago when Charlemagne’s troops began their siege of this fortified town. The dry moat kept the enemy from wheeling mobile towers filled with attackers up against the outer wall. Never-the-less the fortress underwent numerous assaults by impatient and frustrated forces whose main weapon was time … time for those trapped behind the walls to ran out of food or water or both.

FRANCE Carcasone Dame Carcas photo by PinpinDuring one of these squirmishes King Ballak was mortally wounded. His wife, Carcas, assumed his position as leader, but time was passing and it was reported to her that there was little grain left. In one last attempt to save her people, Carcas, went to each storage bin and swept up what few grains of corn remained. She fed these last handfuls of grain to a pig and then had the pig flung off a high wall in sight of the enemy. Upon impact the stuffed pig burst and its stomach contents were revealed.

Seeing the castle evidently still had enough corn to feed pigs and thus thinking it would be a long time yet before starving them out, discouraged Charlemagne forces packed up and left. Carcas happily sounded the victory bells and the citizens yelled with glee “Carcas sonne! Carcas sonne!” [Carcas sounds! Carcas sounds!”] The name stuck to the town.

Historians dispute this fancy tale as having no historical truth, however, the townspeople adopted it. It pleases them and the tourists … including us.

A taxi delivered us back to the tourist office in time to collect our bags and catch the train to Arles.

SIGHTSEEING IN CARCASSONNE

Carcassonne Tourism Office
28 rue de Verdun
11890 Carcassonne Cedex 9
Phone: 33 0 468 102 430
Website (English): tourism-carcassonne.co.uk

FOOD & DRINK IN CARCASSONNE

La Maison du Cassoulet
Proud of its authentically prepared Le Cassoulet (a traditional Southern French slow-cooked soupy-stew-like cassorole (from which the restaurant and the dish derives their names) containing meat, foul, white beans and pork skin). Their recipe for this comfort food is not a secret, it’s written on a wall inside the restaurant. They serve other dishes but when in Soluthern France … . Tables close to each other encourage conversations between travellers.
Address: (within the walls) 6 rue du grand Puits, 11000 Carcassonne, France
Phone: +33 4 68 47 61 03
Website: www.maisonducassoulet.com

This entry was posted in WESTERN EUROPE
Share

ENJOY MORE FROM PLACES LIKE THIS

  • FT FRANCE Nice Promenade aerial Pixabay 2

    Nice Is Nice – Either Way It’s Nice

    September 28, 2017
  • FT FRANCE Villefranche-sur-Mer aerial Pixabay

    Villefranche-Sur-Mer, Once A Preferred Playground Of High-Society, Still Charms

    September 27, 2017
  • FT FRANCE Isle sur la Sorgue

    Discover the soothing sounds and breathable pace of Ile Sur La Sorgue

    September 24, 2017

Post navigation

  Medieval Musings in Sarlat and Other Dordogne Villages
A hike to remember ~ St. Remy to Les Baux, Provence, France  

TRAVEL SERIES

East Meets West in Lebanon Feeling Cuba Hiking the West Coast Trail Invigorating Egypt Island Hopping the Caribbean Memories of Syria New Zealand & Rarotonga Sand and Jasmine in Tunisia Sands of Jordan South America... a Start Spring Fling in Western Europe Unforgettable India
Sherrie & Terry Thorne About the Writers Sherrie & Terry Thorne

Sherrie and Terry created Travel Tales in 2008, though they began travelling the world many years prior. Having visited well over 100 countries the pair have a unique perspective on both the art of travel and the world at large.

They share their journeys through travel writing, travel videos, photography and more. They are keen adventures who are not afraid to step out of their comfort zone and view the world through ever-changing eyes.


Angelina & Stephen Thorne About the Writers Angelina & Stephen Thorne

Angelina and Stephen are guest contributors to TravelTales and are also the creators and writers for their own lifestyle site, TenMoreSteps.com

Together, the two have shared in adventures around the globe and have often times accompanied Sherrie and Terry in their travels.

POST BY LOCATION

ANGUILLA BOLIVIA British Columbia BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS CANADA CARIBBEAN CUBA ECUADOR EGYPT INDIA JORDAN LEBANON NEW ZEALAND PERU PUERTO RICO SABA SOUTH AMERICA ST JOHN ST MARTIN SYRIA TORTOLA TUNISIA US VIRGIN ISLANDS WEST COAST TRAIL WESTERN EUROPE

LOOKING FOR GENEALOGY?

TravelTales began as a genealogy site for our family.
It has become so much more!
You can now view the our genealogy site at RelativeToUs.com.
Thank you for your support.


Fun Facts

Total Contries Travelled 100+
TravelTales © 2008-2018 All rights reserved.
The writings and images on this website may not be reproduced without the written permission from the author.
If you have any questions or want reproductions of any photography on these pages please contact Travel Tales through our Youtube Channel.