L'appartement - Carcassonne

The local neighbourhood

The very centre of town

The location of the apartments is superb, and the experience of living at the hub of this bustling historic French town is wonderful. The place Carnot is the lively centre of Carcassonne's "basse ville", known as the "Bastide St Louis". Parts or all of the square are frequently closed to cars, as events such as the thrice-weekly market take place there. There are eight establishments in the square that fall into the category of providers of food or drink - brasseries, cafes, salons de the - and an excellent restaurant (L'Endroit) in the rue de l'Aigle d'Or, almost opposite the door of the apartment. Even in the winter the cafe owners put the chairs outside on the pavements and in the square if the weather is sunny. During the tourist season there is also a night club in the rue de l'Aigle d'Or. This is probably regarded as an asset only by the under 25 age group, but fortunately it does not open every night.

The square frequently features in guide books of the area, with its surrounding buildings (mainly eighteenth century) and a lovely eighteenth century Italian fountain in the centre. Its famous plane trees are beautiful in the summer when they are in full leaf, and also in winter when they are covered in tiny lights for the Christmas season. At Christmas the Place Carnot is the centre of the 'Magie de Noel' festival, and the highlight is a skating rink and Christmas market. There are numerous events and activities all over the town and a visit over Christmas makes a memorable holiday.

In the summer during the Carcassonne Festival season many of the events take place, or start in, the place Carnot. You may see a procession, hear a jazz band playing, or witness some other entertainment that has the place Carnot as its venue. Look up the list of daily events before the start of your holiday by visiting the official Carcassonne tourism website and click on the "dates" section where you will find a day-by-day list of all events of interest. Otherwise drop in at the local tourist office at 28 rue de Verdun, five minutes from the apartments.

Shopping

You have a choice of two boulangeries/patisseries within a minute's walk of the apartments, where you can buy your warm breakfast croissants or brioches. There is a small supermarket also about a minute's walk away where you can buy more or less any household food or supplies you might need (and there's a larger Monoprix around the corner in the rue Georges Clemenceau where there is more choice).

There is a market in the place Carnot itself on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with a wonderful selection of local produce, and in December all sorts of Christmas goodies appear, such as crystallised fruit, local nuts, dried fruit, various sweets and other local specialities, floral decorations of holly and other seasonal plants, and of course Christmas trees. The other market in the place Eggenfelden is only a couple of minutes further on and specialises mainly in meat, fish and charcuterie. There is a very up-market speciality food shop called La Ferme a couple of minutes away, and a butcher on the corner of the place Carnot and another opposite La Ferme. You will have to walk a little further for the fishmonger (on the days when the market is not operating, that is), which is along the rue Courtejaire.

Amenities

There is a bank with an ATM a minute's walk away, and the main post office is a couple of minutes further on. There are also two pharmacies in the square.

Eating out

Eating out in Carcassonne is a wonderful - and not necessarily expensive - experience. In the apartments you will find details of some of the places to eat, but no doubt there are many as yet undiscovered, and visitors are welcome to leave details of their own recommendations. There are many establishments that specialise in inexpensive three course lunch time menus, often with wine included, for between 10 and 12 euros. You will be rubbing shoulders with the local business population when you have lunch anywhere in the Bastide St Louis, even though there will be tourists as well at some of the restaurants. But do not imagine that Chez Felix, for example, caters simply for tourists because it is in the main square, and is therefore better missed. Quite the opposite; the dishes are normally excellent both in quality and value for money, and are typical of the area. There are more expensive restaurants of course, and for atmosphere it is hard to beat Les Ecuries, where you walk through the doors into a large leafy courtyard, and through to a converted stable.

In the Cite the restaurants are of course aimed principally at the tourist. All price ranges are to be found, and there are some wonderful locations where you can eat wonderful food.