{"id":32142,"date":"2020-07-16T23:10:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T21:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=32142"},"modified":"2021-03-18T21:36:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T20:36:05","slug":"carcassonne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/carcassonne\/","title":{"rendered":"Carcassonne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Coucou tout le monde! <\/em>Hi there everyone!<\/p>\n<p>I hope you all had a wonderful <em>F\u00eate Nationale<\/em>! This was the first time in the past 5 years that I was not in France for <em>le 14 juillet<\/em>, and although I was sad about my canceled travel plans, I have been reflecting on just how lucky I have been to always spend my summer in France.<\/p>\n<p>I thought we could take <em>un voyage virtuel, <\/em>a virtual trip, together. <em>Allons-y a Carcassonne<\/em>, let&#8217;s go to Carcassonne!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32143\" style=\"width: 1610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32143\" class=\"wp-image-32143 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-350x123.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-1024x358.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-768x269.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-1536x538.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-32143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo from Pixabay, CCO.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Carcassonne is a medieval fortified city located about an hour and twenty minutes from Toulouse in the region of <em>Occitanie<\/em>. It dates back to the Gallo-Roman period and was restored in 1853 by architect <em>Eug\u00e8ne Viollet-le-Duc.<\/em> It is now mainly a tourist site, but during medieval times it was a blossoming city, able to successfully defend against sieges and attacks by countless enemies. In 1997, it was also dubbed a UNESCO world heritage site.<\/p>\n<p>The fortified city has two outer walls with over 50 towers that were built to protect the city from attacks.\u00a0 The\u00a0wooden ramparts that overhang provided protection to defenders on the wall and allowed them to shoot arrows or drop projectiles on attackers beneath. In 1849, the French government decided that the city should be demolished because it had fallen into such poor conditions which caused an outcry amongst the citizens, which is when Eug\u00e8ne Viollet-le-Duc was chosen to restore it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32144\" style=\"width: 465px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32144\" class=\"wp-image-32144 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-2.jpg 455w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/carcassone-2-262x350.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-32144\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo taken by me, July 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Historically, the language spoken in Carcassonne and throughout the region of <em>Occitanie<\/em> (formally <em>Languedoc-Roussilon<\/em>) was not French, but <em>Occitan<\/em>. In Toulouse and in other parts of <em>Occitanie <\/em>there has been an attempt at a revival of the original Romance language. There are some schools who teach the language, as well as community events and cafes catering specifically to the Occitan culture and language. You will see dual street signs in both languages, as well as all the metro stops being announced in both languages. Check out the video below to hear it:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Annonces bilingues Fran\u00e7ais \/ Occitan | M\u00e9tro de Toulouse\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7GYo0OaUYew?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If you visit Carcassonne to walk the 1.9 miles of the two outer walls, I would also suggest stopping to eat a bowl of c<em>assoulet,\u00a0<\/em>which the cities of Carcassonne, Toulouse, and Castelnaudary\u00a0are known for. Historically it is a peasants dish, with slow-cooked <i>haricots blancs <\/i>(white beans),\u00a0<i title=\"French language text\">couennes (pork skin), confit de canard <\/i>(duck confit), and\u00a0<em>saucisse<\/em> (sausage).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32148\" style=\"width: 465px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32148\" class=\"wp-image-32148 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1.jpg 455w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1-262x350.jpg 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-32148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My lunch! July 2019. Photo owned by me.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>You may recognize the name of the city\u00a0from the famous poem by Gustave Nadaud\u00a0about a man who dreamed of seeing Carcassonne before he died:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Je me fais vieux, j\u2019ai soixante ans,<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>J\u2019ai travaill\u00e9 toute ma vie,<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Sans avoir, durant tout ce temps.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Pu satisfaire mon envie.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Je vois bien qu\u2019il n\u2019est ici-bas<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>De bonheur complet pour personne.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Mon v\u0153u ne s\u2019accomplira pas:<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Je n\u2019ai jamais vu Carcassonne!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">I&#8217;m growing old, I&#8217;ve sixty years;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">I&#8217;ve labored all my life in vain:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">In all that time of hopes and fears<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">I&#8217;ve failed my dearest wish to gain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">I see full well that here below<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">Bliss unalloyed there is for none.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">My prayer will ne&#8217;er fulfilment know<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center\">I never have seen Carcassonne!<\/p>\n<p>I hope that your own wish to see Carcassonne will one day be fulfilled, as soon as we are all able to travel to France once again! <em>\u00c0 la prochaine!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"262\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1-262x350.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1-262x350.jpg 262w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/41d8722f-886f-4d75-a74c-cdc800da169d_r1.jpg 455w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\" \/><p>Coucou tout le monde! Hi there everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful F\u00eate Nationale! This was the first time in the past 5 years that I was not in France for le 14 juillet, and although I was sad about my canceled travel plans, I have been reflecting on just how lucky I&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/carcassonne\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":32148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32142","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32142"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33585,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32142\/revisions\/33585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}