France Days 14-17: Where Carcassonne is a Proper Castle, but the Mary and Baby Jesus Statues Definitely Are Not, and We Say Goodbye to France.

 

This trip's theme has somehow come to revolve around statuary, in particular the bizarre/interesting/ridiculous depictions of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. You'll recall the Bill Murray Baby Jesus man-child from the Greek Monastery.
After cruising the canal for two delightful days, stopping at tiny villages, and generally enjoying the laziness of it all, we arrived in Carcassonne, a beautiful town with an incredible castle that dominates the skyline. Perhaps you have heard of the game, which I tried to master some time ago, but it turns out it is easier to be 53, travel to Europe, rent a canal boat, go through 33 locks and get yourself to the actual Carcassonne castle and then start deciding whether you should move there and become a farmer or a pillager or a knight etc. than it is to ever win the game.

I should probably have played this child's version instead. Anyway my point is that while it's known for the 3.2kms of double ramparts and protections, and the 52 towers, it also turns out Carcassonne is a hotbed of hilarious Mary/Baby Jesus statues. 

Take this one, for example:

Mary looks to be about 14 first of all, and like she's just seen, oh I don't know, a man with wings flying around or maybe a ghost, and then there's the baby Jesus, who looks like the love child of Beeker the Muppet and Rex Murphy. 

The site of the castle has held some sort of fortification since Roman times in 122 BCE, holding off various marauders and the like. The best story concerns Madame Carcas, la chatelaine of the castle (in charge) who, in 1249 while the castle was under yet another siege, decided to take their last remaining pig, kill it, and stuff it with the last of their grain, and chuck it over the walls at the feet of their enemy. It was a gutsy move, designed to make them think the castle had food to waste, and could outlast any lengthy siege the marauders might be considering. It worked, and the pillagers buggered off. Weirdly, while we were cruising in the canal just after leaving, we saw a huge bloated pig carcass floating in the canal. It smelled horrible, but certainly added to the authenticity of our visit...

The castle really is stunning - we loved exploring the ramparts and towers and walking through La Cite, even if it was extremely crowded. While we have mostly had Europe to ourselves for the past couple of weeks, it turns out this is where all the people are. 

But back to the statues...

Let me get a little closer:

This sculpture was created by an Italian at some point in the 1600s. 

And modified and perfected in the 1980s.

And then there's this one. 

He's wondering if his mum knows she has a hole in her chest.

Also, I feel like Nute Gunray from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was also involved somehow:

Anyway, we were sad to leave Carcassonne, but happy to continue our journey on to Bram, where we said goodbye to our boat.

Then we were off to Toulouse, where we said goodbye to Uncle Pete, and then to Paris by train, where it was raining chats et chiens.

And this isn't even a black and white photo.

After getting completely soaked, and then trapped in terrible Paris traffic, we almost missed our Eurostar to London and only made it by taking out several small children and old ladies in the Gare du Nord. Sorry!

None of that mattered however as my secret plan to bring Zoe to London to surprise Kent went off flawlessly when she 'bumped into' him at St. Pancras Station:

Yes that first picture makes me cry too!

Stay tuned for more from London, including the inevitable cake.