Thursday 8th October

We travelled west past the city of Beziers and down Plane Tree lined avenues towards the city of Carcassonne.

The medieval cite of Carcassonne is very special though some feel that when it was saved from ruin in the 19th Century it was over renovated.

 The fortifications around the old town are really immense - it is very difficult to get your head around how enormous all this is.

At the very top of the hill is the château.

Below it are two more rings of massive fortifications.

The city was a stronghold of the Cathars in the 13th Century. They were a religious sect which the Pope regarded as heretical. He turned the Crusaders on them and they were all eventually killed either by the Pope's forces or by starvation while besieged in their castles. Many had to resort to eating their own dead to briefly postpone the inevitable! Organised religion has a lot to answer for.

As parking was very pricey in Carcassonne we moved on a few kilometres south to the town of Limoux. We parked on the town's aire which was very crowded and after tea went for a walk around town.

There is a nice square in the centre of Limoux with restaurants etc.

The church has an amazing spiky tower.

We wandered down to the banks of the river Aude which runs through the town and discovered a much nicer parking place than the rather squalid aire.

So here's the view from our van tonight right by the waterside. We travelled 92 miles (148 kilometres) today.