Thursday Doors: Bastide Saint-Louis, Carcassonne, France

The week before last, my contribution to “Thursday Doors” was from a trip my husband and I took in June to Carcassonne, southern France (visit here). The photos I featured were of the ancient fortified city that sits perched on a hill overlooking the lower city or the ville basse on the left bank of the Aude River.

This week, I’d like to show you around the lower city seen here through a rampart in the outer wall surrounding the medieval city.

On our way from the medieval city to the lower city, we crossed the River Aude via Le Pont Vieux bridge, made up of twelve arches and constructed in 1320.

The center of the lower city is known as Bastide Saint-Louie and was founded in 1260.  Wandering the narrow streets, visiting the shops, cafés, bakeries, parks, squares with fountains, and the market to experience the life of this place made for a wonderful couple of days.  In Carcassonne, there are many fascinating sights!

Suspended above a number of narrow streets are brightly colored umbrellas. The umbrellas are part of the Umbrella Sky Project. The idea came from Patricia Cunha, a Portuguese artist, and started in Agueda, Portugal in 2011. In 2020, thousands of colorful flowers were added to the umbrellas in Carcassonne to create a kind of garden feel.

I hope you enjoyed a small bit of this extraordinary place. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, stay well!

At the Place Gambetta Park

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This is my contribution to the weekly Thursday Doors challenge hosted by Dan Antion over at No Facilities blog.

If you would like to see more doors from all around the globe, visit Dan’s.