Carcassonne Vacation Rentals

Distances

• Carcassonne Airport is within a 10 minute(s) drive. Carcssonne airport is accessible by car in less than ten minutes and the airport shuttle but arrives 200 meters from the apartment's door. Toulouse airport is a drive of 1hour and 10 minutes on the motorway picked up five minutes drive from the apartment. Perpignan airport is 1hr and 5 minutes drive away again picking up the motorway five minutes drive from the apartment. Montpellier airport is 1hr and 20 minutes drive away again picking up the motorway five minutes drive from the apartment.
• Transit: can be reached by walking for 5 minute(s). Type of transit is Bus. There is a bus station at the end of the road which goes to local destinations such as swimming lakes. A ten minute walk away is the SNCF train station with direct trains to Toulouse and Narbonne and connections for France and Europe.
• Golf: can be reached by driving for 10 minute(s). There are 1 golf course(s) nearby.
• Ski lifts or Runs : can be reached by driving for 45 minute(s). RESORT Les Angles, 66210, 1:49hrs 111kms Porté-Puymorens, 66760 2:06hrs 133kms Puyvalador, 66210, 0:57hrs 59 kms Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, 66120 2:04hrs 127kms Eyne, 66800 2:03hrs 126kms Goulier, 09220 1:48hrs 122kms Ascou-Pailhères, Ascou, 09110 1:43hrs 102kms Mijanès, 09460 1:28hrs 87kms Ax-les-Thermes, 09110 1:44hrs 106kms
• Shopping and Dining: can be reached by walking for 3 minute(s). The bastide is where the Carcosonnais come to find quality. There are super delicatessens clothing, shoes and house ware boutiques. The Cité has an accessible range also of leather bags, hats and belts, bookshops and crafts. For dining there are good restaurants scattered on the boulevard that circles the bastide as well as in the bastide itself. The Medieval Cité also has a wide choice of restaurants from reasonable to exquisite and there are interesting auberges and chateax within brief driving distance.
• Nearby Attractions: 5 to 20 minute walk The Canal du Midi, a World Heritage site where you can take boat trips along the locks is next to the train station less than a ten minute walk away. The Canal du Midi skirts the bastide. It is popular to hire a bicycle and follow the Canal to Trebe and enjoy the river side restaurants and cycle paths. Locals and tourists eat picnics on its banks. The Cité and the Château Comtal. The French word cité translates as walled town. This explains why the cité in Carcassonne occupies only a tiny area of the modern city. The present cité is essentially medieval, although there are traces of older structures, for example some of the towers on the inner ring of defensive walls still retain their distinctive Roman shape and even their Roman foundations. The outer defensive walls and the barbican of the chateau Comtal are French, added in the thirteenth century, and all of it was heavily restored in the nineteenth century. Before the French period it was home to the rich culture of the troubadours and the Cathars. The cité was restored from 1853 onwards by the great architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. It was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. It has 52 towers and 2 rings of town walls making a total of 3 km of battlements. Inside the Cité may be found : Basilica of St-Nazaire. Lapidary museum A large number of genuine craft shops A large selection of restaurants to suit all budgets with gardens and terraces and some of international repute. Museum of Chivalry, Arms and Archery rue porte d'Aude Carcassonne Tél : 04 68 72 75 51 The Dome is less than five minutes walk from the Penthouse. A remaining part of the city wall, the seventeenth century Bastion Montmorency and the house built upon itis a three minute walk from the penthouse. School Museum 3 Rue du Plô Tél : 04.68.25.95.14 musecole.carca@tele2.fr Reconstruction of a classroom in old times. Exhibition of documents, furniture and school material from the time of Jules Ferry. Museum of the Middle Ages Porte Narbonnaise Tél : 04 68 71 08 65 Porte narbonnaise Carcassonne Tél : 04 68 24 45 70 / 06 08 43 88 06 Train for a sightseeing tour of the Medieval City's turrets and ramparts (Duration 20 min. Multi-language explanations). Departures from the Narbonnaise Gate. Tour in a horse-drawn carriage Porte narbonnaise Carcassonne Tél : 04 68 71 54 57 spidatel@cegetel.net The Canal and the River Aude Both are a short walk away Official listings of 'What's on (In Freench) http://www.carcassonne.org/carcassonne2.nsf/msqAgenda The Bastide Ville Basse At the eve of the revolution in 1789, the bastide still possessed only four gateways. Two of these original gates are very close to te apartment. One is the gate of the Cordelier at the East of rue Aime Ramond and the other, the southern one, is the gateway des Jacobins, also just around the corner from the apartment. The Bastide is a pentagonal Medieval city organised around the central square. In the 14th century the pentagonal city was fortified with a city wall, defensive towers and defensive gates. The ditches outside the walls were transformed into Boulevards in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Bastide is packed with sites of interest to visitors. Numerous cathedrals, churches and chapels including the Catedral of St Michel and la Chapelle des Dominicanes. Tours of the Bastide TÈl: 0468102430 accueil@carcassonne-tourisme.com A tour through the heart of the Bastide in French, English and Spanish. The fountain of the central square, pace Carnot is dedicated to Neptune and dated 1770. Memorial House Tél: 0468724555 This is the house where many of the major French creators of the first half of the 20th century visitied the poet Joi Bosquet as an ivalid. His room remains as it did at the time. Permanent and temporary exhibitions of Audois painters. Museum of fine Arts, 1 rue de Verdun, Tel: 0468777370, A panoramic picture os European paintings of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Within short walking distance there are restaurants, bistros, brasseries and bars (literally dozens. The central Tourist Information Office is minutes walk from the penthouse. The hotels des Villes T h e H o t e ls d es V i l l e s Grand town houses were built as boastful town residences built my wealthy estate owners in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are several impressive examples on rue Aimé Ramond itself . Some examples are : * Hotel de Rolland (rue Aime Ramond) now the town hall was built between 1746 and 1761 and stayed in the same family until 1924. The facade has been decorated with sculptures and balconies with wrought iron. Behind is a spectacular courtyard. * L'Eveche- now the prefecture (rue Jean Bringer) built by the same Bishop responsible for the Boulevards and les Halles in 1760 * The Hotel de Roux d'Alzonne (rue de Verdun). The greater part datrs from the 16th century and the facade dates from the 1750's. The mullioned windows date from the 16th century and a door and fountain from the 18th century. Louis XIV stayed here. La Maison du Senechal is said to be the oldest in the Ville basse. I survived the great fire that ravaged the town in 1355. * The Hotel de Saint Andre (rue Jean Bringer) A passage leads to a courtyard with a huge palm tree and a main entry sculped ub the gothic style datinh from late 15th century. * Other notable hotels include l'Hotel de Murat, L'Hotel de Franc de Cahuzac, la Maison Cotte and the Banque de France is just around the corner. Simply wondering around the bastide and the boulevard there are many architectural details of interest and churches which are open to visitors. Les Halles - The covered market offers neo-clasical architecture and fresh gourmet produce in the mornings. The main weekly market is held every Saturday in the main square Place Carnot. Nearby shops include jewellers, hat shops, antique shops, antique shops, leather and haberdashers and numerous speciality food shops and delicatessens. The Art Deco city theatre is less than two minutes from the penthouse. Some roads in the Bastide are named after French heroes of WWII and some identify the code names of resistance heroes from World War II. 5 to 10 minute’s drive Bird City Cite des oiseaux Tél : 04 68 47 88 99 info@citedesoiseaux.com You can see demonstrations of falconry, a flock of Pyrenean eagles and many other species. Its a great show that can be enjoyed again and again. ACACIA Tennis Club 14, Boulevard Général Sarrail 11000 CARCASSONNE Tél. 04 68 25 21 57 acacia.club@wanadoo.fr Forest Acrobatic Park Lac de la Cavayére TÈl: 0607960455 o2aventure@wanadoo.fr Seven courses of varing difficulty and more than 80workshops including Tyrolean traverses above Lac de la Cavayere. Access by public transport. Parc Australien Tél: 0468250507 Leparcautralien@free.fr Kangaroos, emus, aboriginal art, boomerangs to didgeridoos. Golf de Carcassonne 18 Holes Par 71 5,800 metres Built in 1988... International standard. Panoramic views. Location: Situated close to the medieval City, between Cavanac and Carcassonne on the D204. Good standard parkland course. * Visitor friendly. * Reasonable green fees in peak season and off peak. * It is necessary to reserve a tee off time which can be done by telephone. * Open all year round. Phone No. 06 13 20 85 43. Between 1 and 2 hours drive S e a J o u s t i n g , a n a n c i e n t s p o r t , h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n r e - i n t r o d u c e d i n C a r c a s s o n n e . J o u s t e s a r e h e l d e a c h y e a r o n t h e C a n a l d u M i d i . Exceptional nearby towns include: Castelnaudary, Espéraza , Lagrasse, foix, Alet les Bains, Leucate, Lezignan-Corbieres, Limoux, Montredon-des des-Corbières, La Redorte, Trebes, Collioure Villages: The famous village of Dan Brown fame is 40 minutes drive away, Rennes-le-Château Ports: Gruissan, Sigean Attractions: Cathar Castles (Arques, Aguila, Bram, Lastours, Puilaurens, Termes), Limoux Carnival, Via Domitia, Fontfroide Abbey, Lagrasse Abbey, Saint-Papoul Abbey, Saint-Hilaire Abbey, Alet-les-Bains Abbey Nearby by are Naturist Beaches, Caves and Grottos, Menhirs, Dolmens and Megaliths, a safari park, water sport The region is one of the most fascinating areas of Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the east and the Pyrenees Mountains to the south.It benefits from a typical Mediterranean climate and has an unusually rich wildlife, a spectacular coast, and surprising history.Things to see include mountains, rivers and lakes, ancient cities, towns, villages, thermal springs, abbeys, and cathedrals, châteaux and castles, notably the famous mountain fortresses popularly known as Cathar Castles. In recent years it has become a popular French holiday destination, with long sunny days, Mediterranean beaches, thousands of miles of walks, and rides, National Parks and wildlife reserves (such as the Camargue and the Cevennes), thermal springs and spas, grottoes and caves, and vestiges of the Languedoc's long history, including dinosaur bones and eggs, prehistoric human remains, dolmens and megaliths, geology, archaeology and palaeontology, Greek and Roman architecture, and everywhere reminders of the the Cathars, the papal Crusade against them, and the Papal Inquisition that followed the crusade. Sports include a wide range of land sports, water sports, air sports, mountain sports, winter sports, golf, hunting, shooting, hawking, and fishing. There are also numerous cultural activities, along with French regional food specialties, and Languedoc wines. Local festivals range from bull-running to the Fecos in Limoux and from sea-jousting in the north to celebrating la jour de St-Jean in the south by fire-jumping. The LanguedocThe Languedoc has a rich prehistory and history, including Celts, Hannibal with his elephants, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and Franks. Find out about the Medieval period, before the area was annexed by France, when its language, the Langue d'Oc, was the premier literary language of Europe, and its rulers, the Counts of Toulouse, were the most tolerant and enlightened rulers in the Western World. Skiing Ski areas cover the Catalan Pyrenees. There are 12 resorts at an altitude of 1200-2600m offering more than 200 downhill runs and 150 ski lifts. The Pyrenees region offers the 'Neiges Catalanes' ski-pass: a single priced ticket which allows you to ski across 10 resorts. The following are downhill ski resorts in or near the Languedoc: Les Angles, Porté-Puymorens, Puy Valador, Prat-Peyrot, Font Romeu, Odeillo, Bolqueres, Pyrenees 2000, Ax-Bonascre, Mijanès, Ascou-Pailhères, Les Monts-d'Olmes, Goulier Neige, Le Puigmal 2600, and Camre d'aze. * Les Angles. 29 pistes, 19 ski lifts, (+114km cross-country tracks). For the depth of snow and the number of pistes and ski lifts open.: * Porté-Puymorens. 17 pistes, 13 skilifts, (+25km cross-country tracks). For the depth of snow and the number of pistes and ski lifts open. * Puyvalador. For the depth of snow and the number of pistes and ski lifts open. * Prat-Peyrot. For the depth of snow and the number of pistes and ski lifts open. * Font Romeu, Odeillo, Bolqueres, Pyrenees 2000. 40 pistes, 33 skilifts, (+80 Km cross-country tracks). For the depth of snow and the number of pistes and ski lifts open. * Ax-Bonascre. Near Ax-les-Thermes. el: 05 61 64 36 36. www.vallees-ax.com, email: vallees.ax@wanadoo.fr, Alt. 1400 m - 2400 m. 70 km of piste. 11 red, 2 black pistes. One of the largest Pyrenean sites. Three ski-stations. shops, snowshoe hire, forest skiing. Other activities such as hang-gliding on skis. * Mijanès. Near Axat. Tel:04 68 20 40 44. Alt. 1530-2000 m. 9 km of piste, 9 pistes, including 2 red and 1 black. A family friendly station with a creche. * Ascou-Pailhères. Near Axat. Tel 05 61 64 28 86, 05 61 64 21 23. Alt. 1500-2000 m. 20 km of piste. 15 pistes including 6 red and 2 black. Suitable for downhill lovers but also beginners. * Les Monts-d'Olmes. Near Lavelanet. Tel:05 61 01 10 41. Alt. 1400-2000 m. 18.5 km of piste. 20 pistes including 9 red and 2 black. Family friendly. * Goulier Neige. Near Foix. 05 61 64 88 99. Alt. 1500-2000 m. 6 km of piste. Tiny ski station. 6 pistes. Weekend skiing and horse riding. * Le Puigmal 2600, Cerdagne, 19 pistes, 9 skilifts, (+30km cross-country tracks) * Camre d'Aze. Eyne, 26 pistes, 17 skilifts (+nature reserve). The Cité of Carcassonne The Cité is a spectacular walled town – the largest medieval town in Europe with its city walls intact. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the setting for many films featuring medieval castles. It is one of the few sights in the world that genuinely justifies the epithet "breath taking". The Cité and the Château Comtal. The French word cité does translate as city. It translates as walled town. This explains why the cité in Carcassonne occupies only a tiny area of the modern city. The present cité is essentially medieval, although there are traces of older structures, for example some of the towers on the inner ring of defensive walls still retain their distinctive Roman shape and even their Roman foundations. [The inhabitants of Carcassonne being expelled after the fall of the City in 1209] The present Cité is recognizable as the medieval one which was the seat of the Trencavel family, Viscounts of Carcassonne, before the area was annexed by France in the thirteenth century. It was besieged by the French in 1209 soon after the famous massacre at Béziers, during the early stages of the wars against the people of the Languedoc, sometimes known as the Cathar wars or the Albigensian Crusade. A large part of the structure dates from the pre-French period, including the inner city walls and part of the Viscounts’ castle known as the chateau Comtal. The outer defensive walls and the barbican of the chateau Comtal are French, added in the thirteenth century, and all of it was heavily restored in the nineteenth century. Before the French period it was home to the rich culture of the troubadours and the Cathars. The cité was restored from 1853 onwards by the great architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc - narrowly escaping the destruction by Victorian philistines that befell so many other historic European cities. It was added to theUNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. The folk etymology of the name Carcassonne is endearing and widely believed. According to the story a châtelaine of the city, named Carcas, foiled an attempted seige by the Franks or in some versions the Saracens. At the point of having to surrender through starvation Carcas found the last animal alive in the city - a pig - and fed it with all of the remaining vegetables and offal that remained. She then sent the well fattened pig as a present to the beseigers who, as planned, deduced that the city was well provisioned and seeing no prospect of the city's surrender, upped camp and left. According to this apocryphal story the bells rang out in celebration, giving the city a new name - ("Carcas sona"). A neo-Gothic sculpture of Dame Carcas on a column near the Narbonne Gate is modern. (Gate shown left, detail right) The Basilica of saint Nazaire Inside the Cité may be found the Basilica of St-Nazaire. History of the Cité The hill site or oppidum of Carsac became an important trading place in the 6th century BC. (Carsac is a Celtic place-name). A people known as the Volcae Tectosages fortified the oppidum there. In 122 BC the Romans invaded the areas that we now know as Provence and Languedoc. Recognising its strategic importance Carcassonne fortified the hilltop around 100 BC. This Roman settlement was occupied until the mid 5th century AD when it, along with Spain, fell to the Visigoths, invaders from the banks of the Danube. The Visigothic king Theodoric II took Carcassonne in 453, and a few years later in 462 the Romans ceded the whole area (Septimania) too. Theodoric built further fortifications at Carcassonne, now a frontier post on the northern marches of his kingdom. Traces of these fortifications still stand. Theodoric, an Arian Christian, is thought to have begun the building of a church now replaced by the basilica in the Cité dedicated to Saint Nazaire. Carcassonne remained under Visigoth rule from 460 to 725. A generation or so later, in 752, the Moors gave way to the Caroligian king, Pépin the Short, who did manage to take Carcassonne, making it a Frankish City. In 1067 Carcassonne became, through marriage, the property of Raymond Bernard Trencavel, viscount of Albi and Nîmes. In the following centuries the Trencavel family allied in succession either with the Counts of Barcelona (later Kings of Aragon) or with the House of Toulouse. They built the Château Comtal and the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire. In 1096 Pope Urban II blessed the foundation stones of the new cathedral. Carcassonne was one of the centres of Occitan culture, where literacy flourished and the troubadour tradition was developed, patronized by great princes like the Trencavel dynasty. The Viscount of Carcassone as depicted on a modern mural in Carcassonne. For over a century the Medieval city of Carcassona enjoyed tremendous influence under the Trencavel family. This was brought to an end during the disasterous wars against the Cathars of the Languedoc. One of the important events in the first stages of the war was the siege of Carcassonne. In August 1209 the crusading army of Arnaud Amaury (not as is often claimed Simon de Montfort) forced its citizens to surrender having siezed Raymond-Roger Trencavel during a truce. Raymond Roger was murdered, or at least left to die, in his own prison, and Simon de Montfort was appointed the new viscount. De Montfort added to the fortifications. At the end of the wars the Languedoc was annexed by the French crown. Carcassona became a French city called Carcassonne. In 1240 Raymond-Roger's son tried to reconquer his inheritance, but in vain. The city submitted to the rule of kingdom of France, though there would be more attempted rebellions into modern times as the local people attempted to return to their traditional allegence to the Kings of Aragon, the Trencavels' suzerains. In 1247, King Louis IX of France founded the new part of the town across the river - the Bastide de Saint Louise where the apartment is situated, now in the heart of the ville basse. Louis (Saint Louis) and his successor Philip III built the present outer ramparts of the old Cité. Opinion at the time considered the fortress to be impregnable. Indeed, when Edward the Black Prince attacked Carcassonne in 1355 during the Hundred Years' War, his troops destroyed the Ville Basse without much trouble, but he failed to take the old Cité. Carcassonne continued to hold strategic value, now for the French as a central and second line of defense against the Spanish. A series of border castles known as the five sons of Carcassonne (Queribus, Termes, Aguila, Peyreperteuse and Puilaurens) provided the first line of defence. It is possible to comfortably to see several of these impressive sites on a day trip. In 1659, under the Treaty of the Pyrenees the Roussillon passed from Aragon to France. This meant that the Franco-Spanish border shifted south. The border castles were no longer border castles and a new set of fortifications were built under de Vauban. Carcassonne's strategic importance was reduced and it was allowed to fall into disrepair. Carcassonne was removed from the schedule of official fortifications under Napoleon, and the fortified Cité of Carcassonne fell into such disrepair that the French government decided that it should be demolished. An official decree to that effect that was issued in 1849. It caused an uproar. By great good fortune the Mayor of Carcassonne, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, was an antiquary. He and Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of ancient monuments in France, led a campaign to preserve the fortress as a historical monument. Soon, the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, already at work restoring the Basilica of Saint-Nazaire in the Cité was commissioned to renovate the whole place. After centuries of neglect it was heavily restored, and it is this restored city that makes such an impact today, a World Heritage site, with plenty of sites to see and places to visit including festivals in the City. Fortifications consist of a double ring of ramparts with 53 towers along the curtain walls. Access to the Medieval City is free. The medieval walled town lies on the right bank of the River Aude and is featured on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. It has 52 towers and 2 rings of town walls making a total of 3 km of battlements. There is no restriction on access to this area of Carcassonne. It is still home today to its population of approximately 120 and it boasts a large number of shops and craftsmen. Guided tours, gallery talks, educational activities (for children). Lapidary museum, permanent exhibition on the restoration of the Cité in the 19th century. Basilica of Saint-Nazaire Place de l'église Carcassonne Open all year. Weekdays: from 9.00am to 11.45pm and 1.45pm to 6pm (closes at 5pm during the winter) - Sundays: from 9.00am to 10.45am and 2pm to 5pm (closes at 4:30pm during the winter). Free

Carcassonne Vacation Rentals

France : Languedoc Roussillon : Carcassonne : ID# 139879