If you’re the King or Queen and you’re trying to run a castle, it’s going to take a lot of bread to keep everyone fed and a lot of sheets for all of those beds. Why not build a mill that will grind all of that wheat and turn all of those threads into cloth. If you’re lucky enough to have a powerful river running near by, as we do through Carcassonne, you can use that force to run your mills if it doesn’t wash them away in the process. So how can you control a wide and forceful river? You create a diversion. Continue reading “A diversion”

We usually take a couple walks a day plus a few other quick outings down by the river for Heather’s breaks. There are the “must” excursions to the open-air market for fresh produce or the bakery for some croissants, for example and then the pleasure walks that get us out exploring medieval streets, open countryside along the canal, or pathways beside the river. On a recent walk inside the Bastide, the part of Carcassonne that was founded in 1240 and used to be totally encircled by a thick stone wall, we saw the plaque seen here in this picture and wondered what it was. Continue reading “Level headed”