Carcassonne July 14th La Cité ablaze

Carcassonne was the place to be on July 14th.

June kicked off with the Festival de Carcassonne

Now in it's 11th year it offers the visitor to Carcassonne (as well as it's residents of course) a glorious selection of events from theatre,dance, comedy,circus, classical, with a varied programme of music to suit all tastes. There are lots of events that are free to enjoy, what better way to spend an evening sitting at one of the bars on the Place Carnot and join in the fun with a group of friends.

All the restaurants are in full swing, one that I have sampled of late and can recommend is restaurant Robert Rodriguez, a mere stones throw from No.11 where with my dear old friend Lord Luke Jozef August Edouard we savoured the most delicious bottle of Les Dimanches Clos de l'anhel 2008 from a local female vigneronne from Lagrasse in the Corbieres.  It was part of the deal that I would mention my friend as he kindly treated me. A fair bargain struck to be sure !!

I never fail to get excited as the countdown to the feux d'artifice (fireworks) commences.  All day long thousands of visitors throng into Carcassonne.  Clothes stands line the streets so a little bargain hunting must commence early morning.  A leisurely drink with friends at lunchtime at a local bar gave us a chance for a gossip and a laugh while we all planned the evening ahead.  This year I was lucky enough to be invited to a beautiful terrace with a birds eye view of La Cité, the rooftops of Carcassonne under us glowing deep red in the setting sun.  To really infuse the evening with even more magic the full moon hung right over La Cité itself.  All around us were people setting up their parties for the yearly event, we could see shadowy silouttes of people clambering up onto rooftops for an uninterupted view.

Suddenly the lights go out and the entire area is plunged into pitch blackness, there then follows one of the best firework displays in Europe with surely one of the most stunning backdrops.  Afterwards a guest pulled out his guitar and we all sang along before we trooped off to the dance music at Square Gambetta. Headed by DJ Ceeril of Carcassonne. I could hear it going on way into the night as I had an early start in the morning and was forced to retire gracefully.

It hasn't all been non stop partying though.  I have been working very hard alongside my son Toby who will soon be launching his new on-line business Be-Siin and also to be found on the social networking site facebook  So if you want to go and support a young British entrepreneur do please pop along and see him to either be friends or like his page.  I'm confident he will go far with his enthusiasm and I'm very proud to display his photograph on my blogspot above.  Only ever so slightly miffed that it knocks my efforts into a cocked hat much to his amusement.

It's great fun at last to work alongside some-one with commitment and a passion for what they do, its been a learning curve for both of us but I wouldn't swop the experience for the world.