Carcassonne

Carcassonne was definitely one of the more amazing chateaux/castles that we've visited so far. It has been almost completely restored and looks kind of like one of the castles that you see in fairy tales, although it is probably a lot more defensible. Carcassonne got its name when the town and Chateau were under siege. The people of the town were starving and were just about ready to give themselves up to the French when one of the noble ladies of the chateau took their last pig and fed it with the last of their grain and then threw it over the battlements. When the French saw the pig they thought that the people of the town must have a lot more food if they were able to throw away their pigs and therefore they would not be able to starve them out. They lifted the siege and the noble lady became the lady of Carcassonne (carcass for pig carcass).

We checked into a hotel that had a view of the walls surrounding Carcassonne so that we could stare at them all night. The next morning we went into the town of Carcassonne and saw the chateau and went up on the battlements. The view was beautiful and had we not been on our way to Barcelona that day we might have stayed for a couple days to look around the city. As it was we took the chance to see it again on our way back.