Carcassonne is the fortress that every child draws when asked for a castle: a double ring of walls with about fifty towers, pointed slate roofs, a drawbridge and a keep, rising from a hilltop above the river Aude. The medieval city, known as La Cité, is the largest walled town in Europe still standing, and much of what you see was heavily restored in the nineteenth century by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, whose steep roofs on the towers are more northern French than local. The result is spectacular if debatable, and UNESCO listed the site in 1997.
The place has a past of great drama. In 1209 a crusading army, sent by the pope against the Cathars, a dissenting Christian movement in southern France, besieged and took the city, and its lord Raymond-Roger Trencavel died in captivity. Carcassonne then became a royal frontier fortress, facing Aragon, and the walls were strengthened. Later it lost its military value and was nearly demolished before the restoration saved it. Nearby are Cathar castles perched on cliffs, such as Peyrepertuse and Quéribus, which make a splendid day's ride.
The riding in the area is excellent. From Carcassonne, roads lead west along the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO-listed waterway lined with plane trees, and east and south into the Corbières hills, where the roads twist through vineyards, scrub and limestone gorges. Surfaces are generally good, with some rough patches, and traffic is light outside July and August, when tourism peaks. The wind, called the Cers or Tramontane depending on direction, can be strong. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with warm days and cool evenings, and the scent of wild thyme and rosemary on the hills.
Carcassonne has fuel stations, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels, both in the lower town and on the approach roads, and the Cité itself is crowded in summer. The local speciality is cassoulet, a slow-cooked stew of white beans, sausage, pork and duck, rich enough to need an afternoon's rest. Park outside the walls, since the cobbled streets are steep and crowded, and plan to arrive early or late in the day to escape the tour groups.