Le Canal des Deux Mers à Vélo day 6 - 41 km from Castelnaudary to Carcassonne

If you’re following the Canal des Deux Mers, then an essential stop is the City of Carcassonne and its spectacular fortified city. There is such a lot to see up there that you really should keep a day set aside to take your time and explore.

I had two nights in Carcassonne at Hôtel de l’Octroi Cité Médiévale Logis de France. It’s a nice hotel. Inside feels quite modern, which might not be what you’re looking for on a visit to a town like Carcassonne, but it was clean with a nice bed and a nice bathroom. And it has a gated car park where I could lock up my bike safely for the night.

Once I had locked up my bike and put my bags in my room, I headed back down the street towards the river. There was a “vide grenier” market going on - something along the lines of a car boot sale or garage sale. There was all sorts of bric-a-brac on sale, but one thing with cycle touring is that you’re limited in baggage space, so I didn’t look too closely.

I worked out a route up the hill to the old fortified town - that’s what I was there for after all - and did a little bit of exploring before finding somewhere to eat. As I expected, the options were largely geared towards tourists, but I found a cosy restaurant for some food, then headed back down to my hotel.

The old fortified town is always full of tourists, gift shops, and eating tends to be a bit more expensive than most. However, outside the fortifications in the old town, I came across a lovely family restaurant called Casa Maria. It’s fun sitting in there, watching food being cooked in what seemed to be some kind of wood fired oven. I had a thick flame grilled pork chop and sautéed mushrooms. Apparently there is a nice garden at the back, but it was pouring with rain when I was there, so I kept myself in the warm near the kitchen.