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The Minervois is littered with ruined castles in addition to the spectacularly ‘repaired’ old fortress city of ancient Carcassonne, La Cité.
“the famous words of Gustave Nadaud: Il ne faut pas mourir sans avoir vu Carcassonne” are brought to mind by one of the characters in Kate Mosse’s book Sepulchre (Orion, 2007) page 420. This 19th century French songwriter certainly waxed lyrical in one of his later songs about the tragedy of approaching senility while still not having seen Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings this large fruit, flowers, herbs and vegetables market is held in the Place Carnot — the centre of modern Carcassonne. Car parking is available all around this central area, but from Caunes a handy, quick and congestion-free strategy is to drive in along the D118 coming from Caunes on the Mazamet road. Take the 3rd exit off the roundabout on the periferique road, adjacent to the huge red Cap Rouge cinema complex — The Canal du Midi, which is a major part of the waterway connecting the Meditterranean with the Atlantic, snakes through the Minervois. Apart from the obvious boating pleasures, its shaded towpaths provide delightful walking and cycling routes. It is, however, vineyards that dominate the Minervois landscape, but not unrelenting vast-scale plantings. The patchwork of vineyards is peppered with olive groves, and fruit orchards (cherry orchards are a feature around Caunes), asparagus fields, and open countryside often affording fine views of the |
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