FRANCE - Pont du Gard, An Ancient Roman Aqueduct

After our stay in Carcassone, we started to make our way across to Italy, where we are planning to spend a large chunk of time. We had planned to break up the long drive with an overnight stay in a town called Brignoles. It’s essentially just a small town along the the highway. We chose it because the hotel was very cheap and we knew we didn’t have a lot of time or the budget to spend a more fancy city like Nice or Cannes on the coast. 

But on the way to Brignoles, we made a stop at another UNESCO World Heritage site - Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct that was built in the first century AD to carry water to the Roman settlement of Nemausus (what’s now known as Nimes). 

Roman Aqueducts are such an incredible feat of architectural engineering. Pont du Gard has been somewhat restored and reinforced but it’s amazing to think that this structure as been standing for over 2000 years. 

If we had more time, I would have also liked to have visited the town of Nimes. There are some fantastic roman ruins there too - including a well preserved colosseum. 

Visiting Pont du Gard is free although we did pay around 9 euros to park in the carpark of the museum. Entry to the museum was another additional cost, and we skipped this, but there are toilets, a gift shop and a cafe alongside the the museum. 

It was about a 5 - 10 minute walk to the aqueduct from the museum and carpark and you can walk across the lower level of the aqueduct and across the banks of the river below. There were a much of people swimming from the little beach area and large group of kayakers paddled past in what looked like a guided tour. 

Even though the skies were blue and the sun was shining, it was a little windy and chilly, but it did look like a great place for a swim, hike and a picnic. 

FRANCE - Cite de Carcassonne, A Fortified Medieval City

We were having so much fun relaxing in Salou that we considering cancelling our time in Carcassone, France and extending our time at La Siesta Salou Camping Resort. However, we realised that a) the accommodation in Carcassone was no longer refundable and b) there wasn’t any availability at the resort park. But I’m glad we continued on to Carcassone! I had only seen a few photos prior to decided to add it to our itinerary, so I was surprised to realise how extensive the ancient citadel is. We had a fantastic time exploring the walled medieval city.

The fortress has over 2,500 years of history and was occupied by Romans, Visigoth and Crusaders before it fell into ruins and was nearly demolished in the mid 19th century. Thankfully it was restored and serves as one of the best examples of a medieval fortified city in France.

Inside the fortified walls are the Basilica of Saint Nazaire and the Chateau comtal de Carcassonne and many restaurants, crafts shops including leather work, soaps, perfume, jewellery and souvenirs. There is even a haunted house attraction where actors in costumes chase you for the thrill of it - we did not do it, although the girls were intrigued, if not a little confused. by the whole concept.

Carcassone was also has a Museum of the Inquisition, which details some of the gruesome torture that was inflicted during the inquisitions that took place in Carcassone against the Cathars in the 12th Century. We did not go into this either - entirely not appropriate for kids.

We did walk around the ramparts of the Chateau and took in the surrounding views. And were awe struck by the stain glass windows and vaulted ceilings of the Basilica. I thought that the Chateau could of had more historical information and displays, it had a lot in the way of architectural information.

It’s free to enter the fortified city, there’s a few hotels and even a few residents that live within the walls. But we did pay 11 Euro per adult to enter the Chateau area. It was well worth it to see the view over the medieval city and the newer part of Carcassonne from the ramparts. ( Kids are FREE )

The concentric circles you can

We stayed in the newer part of Carcassonne ( pronounced Car-Ca-Son if you were wondering ) in a lovely two bedroom apartment. It was quite charming in itself and we were able to walk across to the medieval fortress quite easily. One full day was definitely enough to explore both the new and old areas of Carcassone, but the whole area surrounding it looked like it would be worth exploring - lots of vineyards, quaint towns and ancient sites.