Author Topic: My trip to Carcassonne (Blog) (Read 3028 times)

Willem · « **on:** March 30, 2022, 12:57:11 PM »

A while back, i was talking with Dan, Tom and Rich on Discord, and i believe Rich mentioned how surprisingly few people had gotten the badge 'Played Carcassonne in Carcassonne'
That got me thinking, and being cheeky, i checked flights from the UK to Carcassonne...

You never guess what happened next?!

So, me and my partner booked flights and an AirBnB, to go to Carcassonne! I hear it's nice there, so let's hope for the best!

We'll be leaving tomorrow early morning, and i thought it could be nice to make a little blog of our trip and tour through the city

I'll also be posting about it on the Carcassonne Museum Instagram, so let's see how the trip goes, and if i can find some hidden treasure there!

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=5854.0

Ker42 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2022, 02:46:50 PM »

As one who would love to visit Carcassonne someday, I look forward to reading your blog and hopefully seeing lots of pictures!

Bumsakalaka · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2022, 03:01:27 PM »

Cool. We were there in 2019. Very nice. Definitely must see is Cathedral!!!

Odoslané z SM-A202F pomocou Tapatalku

kothmann · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2022, 06:35:01 PM »

Quote from: Bumsakalaka on March 30, 2022, 03:01:27 PM

Definitely must see is Cathedral!!!

And remember the visit only counts if you complete the Cathedral tour.

Safe travels!

Weetek23 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2022, 11:56:40 PM »

Have a great trip! We visited back in 1999 with my then-girlfriend (who is actually my girlfriend still :-) which is so long ago that I even do not have any photos from that trip in my computer, just the real ones in one of our dusty family albums. Now I realize that it was so ancient visit that no board game was around yet.
Do you fly directly to Carcassonne airport? It has only a handful of direct services (and as in one of my other geek lives I am an air travel geek, I would be interested to see some airport photos...). One of its alterative names is an apt "Aéroport de Carcassonne en Pays Cathare"...

Meepledrone · « **Reply #5 on:** March 31, 2022, 03:39:24 AM »

Have a great trip, @Willem!

Play at least one game in Carcassonne, take a bunch of meeples with you and sign them while in the city. You could always certifty those meeples visited the city.

Have lots of fun!

Scott · « **Reply #6 on:** March 31, 2022, 06:53:19 AM »

Quote from: Weetek23 on March 30, 2022, 11:56:40 PM

Do you fly directly to Carcassonne airport? It has only a handful of direct services (and as in one of my other geek lives I am an air travel geek, I would be interested to see some airport photos...). One of its alterative names is an apt "Aéroport de Carcassonne en Pays Cathare"...

RyanAir has daily flights to Carcassonne from Stansted.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Willem · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2022, 08:23:29 AM »

We indeed flew from London Stansted directly to Carcassonne. It was only just undern2 hours, so actually quicker than I thought.

We've arrived at our apartment, basically right in between the town centre and the old city. I'll do a more elaborate post later today

Willem · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2022, 01:07:22 PM »

So, summary of Day 1:

We tried to give ourselves a lot of extra time to get to the airport. We live about 100 miles/160 km away from the airport, and expected some traffic, so left with plenty of time.
And our expectations became reality, as there was a big delay, so an alternative route got us at the airport in time!

Then the flight itself was also delayed, without much reason given. So we sat at the gate, played some carcassonne on our phones and ate M&Ms

Finally, the plane was set to take off! During the flight I mainly listened to music and played carcassonne; the usual.

Once arrived, our Airbnb hostess actually came to pick us up! Amazing service!
When we got to the apartment, I remembered how ideally located it is.
Right between the newer centre of town and the old city.

The view from around the corner:

As the weather seemed ok, we decided to have an exploration walk to the old Cité de Carcassonne! (Of course I already had a destination in mind....)

There's multiple roads leading up to the old city, but I really liked this stairwell, leading up

Just up and around the corner was the entrance that I was looking for. I had to make sure it was the right one though

Looks good to me!
I did try to write something about the river expansion being included, but couldn't reach. Might need to try and photoshop it in later..

We walked around in the old city for a bit, admiring the pretty sight and beautiful watchtowers

We then went for a nice dinner in the newer city.
Tomorrow we'll be back in the old city, Browsing through the shops and trying to find some nice souvenirs!

Meepledrone · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2022, 03:56:40 PM »

Great pictures!

What do people say about the traces of the yellow circunference arcs?

Willem · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2022, 11:46:19 PM »

It's a very mixed bag.
Some people love that it's still showing, but also many didn't like the art project itself, and that the rings are still showing. And as they don't pressure wash the walls, those rings will be here for a while....

Willem · « **Reply #11 on:** April 01, 2022, 07:02:42 AM »

So, day 2 (so far)

Woke up late, because we could, and walked back up to the old city for breakfast.
We found a nice old looking place, and had a nice omelet with a coffee!

Then we decided to do the castle tour! The Castle inside the city is a big feature of the old city, so we had to have a look!

I did think this would be nice for @Meepledrone

The tour continued through the castle and its walls:

And then there was an optional extra, to walk on the walls you about halfway around the city!
Of course we did that, despite the harsh wind, and I managed to find the spot for the C2 box art! This one is just not accurate, as the ledge that the 2 figures are on, as well as the higher ledge that the player is on, don't exist. But it was close enough

Walking along the wall, we also found a Cathedral in the city! Best make sure to finish the city before the end now!

And of course, the age old discussion about the colour of the roofs. As seen on earlier pictures; the roofs of the towers are blue, right?

Well, it seems camp orange was right as well...

Castle tour done, we got some souvenirs. They were of course selling the base game at temhe gift shop, and I found 1 other shop that had the game+expansions. When talking with the owner, I told him about the forum and the massive online community for the game. He was very pleased, and went into the back only to return with something very special for me:

Carcassonne has been part of the UNESCO world heritage for ages now. In 2018, to celebrate its 20th anniversary of just that, a special art project was set up, creating the yellow rings on the city. The rings were removed, but they are still visible to this day.
It seemed that, together with HiG, a special edition of the game was made! I had doubts about it, but actually holding it here!
A very special addition to my collection!

Meepledrone · « **Reply #12 on:** April 01, 2022, 07:32:56 AM »

Nice find wih the yellow rings...!

"Le Château Fort 3D" looks awesome...

Enjoy a lot!

kothmann · « **Reply #13 on:** April 01, 2022, 01:47:00 PM »

Quote from: Willem on April 01, 2022, 07:02:42 AM

I managed to find the spot for the C2 box art! This one is just not accurate, as the ledge that the 2 figures are on, as well as the higher ledge that the player is on, don't exist. But it was close enough

This is so great. Thanks @Willem so much for sharing your trip with all of us. +1 Merit.

Willem · « **Reply #14 on:** April 02, 2022, 05:09:42 AM »

Today has been a snowy, rainy and just bad day.
Hopefully the weather will improve, and we'll go out to the newer part of town today
Although some things cannot be forgotten here!

Of course we had to play Carcassonne, in Carcassonne! And to be more specific, at the entrance of the old city!

I had to think about where to place my first tile though...

But I found a good place!

And I tried to claim the field, although it was a bit wet and dirty

I can also recommend going through the castle! It has some nice history of the town, including a folk tale of the origin of the name Carcassonne, and this beautiful scale model that was made in mid 1800s

There's also the "Museum of Beautiful Arts", which had.... Well.... Beautiful Arts...

This was my favourite:

2 more days to go! We're looking at some day trips etc, as my partner doesn't want to play carc with me anymore (I beat her 3 times in a row yesterday

)