2018-04-06 Northern Italy and Southern France Peyriac-de-Mer to Carcassonne

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Northern Italy and Southern France Peyriac-de-Mer to Carcassonne

Northern Italy and Southern France by Hymer Motorhome

Peyriac-de-Mer to Carcassonne

We service Hymer, fill with water and empty the chemical/grey and get on our way to Carcassonne around 10.45am.

We have run out of milk so look for a supermarket. As we pass through Narbonne there are several but we can’t seem to find the entrance for any of them so we give up and take the D6113 to Carcassonne. We find a small supermarket on the way but it only has UHT milk, no fresh milk. We fill up again with LPG adding 10L to our tanks. It’s very difficult to judge how much LPG is in the tanks, they have small pressure gauges on each tank, but pressure does not tell you anything about the level of liquid gas in the tank. Pressure depends on temperature, yes, pressure does fall as the tank gets very close to empty, but it’s not much help. A useful ploy is to open only one tank, then use that until it runs out before switching to the other tank. However that does mean you might lose heating in the middle of the night.

We arrive at Carcassonne around 1.00pm and find the campsite (Aire de la Cité), a large campsite with pitches divided by hedges, shower and toilet blocks and laundry. We are given pitch 107, on the corner, so we park up and have lunch.

Reception give us directions to the old Cité, which stands high on the hill, and we make our way there walking along the River Aude. It is a very windy and blustery afternoon but pleasant walking by the river. We find the footpath up to the Cité, but it is blocked off by workmen who have diggers doing major work. We end up having to walk all the way around the Cité, past the Pont Vieux bridge and up the hill to the Pont Narbonnaise. Consequently, it is after 3.00pm when we get to the Cité gate and almost 4,00pm before we get into Château Comtal.

We buy our tickets and spend over an hour and a half in the Chateau which has been well restored in places and is so full of Medieval history. Around 5.30pm we go to explore the Cité with its narrow streets full of artisan shops and restaurant. It is quaint in its own way but perhaps too touristy for us. The wind is now very cold but no rain, so we make our way back down the hill to the campsite getting back to the camper around 7.00pm. Carcassonne is an expensive place.

The day has been fascinating, but a shame that we have had so many interruptions delaying us. We have turkey curry for tea and an early night. The rain starts about 9.00pm and it is heavy, at least we had our visit to the Cité in the dry.

Our Hymer motorhome trip to Northern Italy and Southern France

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Summary of motorhome journey – Peyriac-de-Mer to Carcassonne