by Kate Mosse
15 Here is the possible short cut I promised you!
If you are tired, you can turn left here and follow the walls back round to the Porte d’Aude where you first entered the Cité. From there, you will be able to see the cobbled ramp leading down to Place Saint-Gimer and back to the Pont Vieux – the old bridge where you started.
If you are still feeling fit, turn to the right – keeping out of the way of the horse-drawn carriages – and follow the Lices round to the Porte Narbonnaise, the most important ceremonial entrance into the Cité. As you make your way along the dusty ground, glance up at the towers of the inner wall – some of the oldest stonework in Carcassonne is here, dating back to Gallo-Roman times. Of course, there was no outer ring in Alaïs’ day. Perhaps that is why she felt so insecure and tried to persuade her father Bertrand to let her take the Books to safety . . .
‘With respect, Paire, there is even more reason to let us go. If we don’t, the books will be trapped within the Ciutat. That cannot be what you want.’ She paused. He made no answer. ‘After everything you and Simeon and Esclarmonde have sacrificed, all the years of hiding, keeping the books safe, only to fail at the last.’
16 ‘The crowds were several deep as they passed under the Trencavel coat of arms hanging between the two towers of the Porte Narbonnaise. Children ran alongside the horses, throwing flowers in their path and cheering.’
After about 200 metres you will reach the main gate into the Cité. Look up at the Tours de la Porte Narbonnaise to see the statue of the Virgin Mary that has replaced the Trencavel ensign.
Leave the Cité by the incongruous drawbridge – Pont-Levis – constructed by Viollet-le-Duc in his 19th-century restoration. Look out for the carved stone pillar with a bas relief of Dame Carcas, after whom, in the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne, the city was named. It reads Sum Carcas – ‘I am Carcas’.
17 Once outside the walls, you will find you have a view that extends for miles southeast towards Narbonne and the Mediterranean Sea. Turn left and look north and you will see Minervois, the pleasant downland through which the Crusaders marched on their way to besiege Carcassonne. If you come this way by night you will see clusters of lights folded in the hills; many of the villages they indicate saw combat or surrendered in fear of reprisals.
‘On his orders, the fugitives were dragged from their hiding place. He lifted his arm and thrust his blade into the parfait’s chest. For an instant, he held his gaze. The Frenchman’s flint grey eyes were stiff with contempt.’
In contrast, there is a lovely two-tiered 19th-century carousel on the piazza. I recommend the spinning teacups!
18 On the other side of the piazza from the carousel is the magnificent 19th-century cemetery where Jeanne Giraud is kidnapped and from which Alice escapes Paul Authié’s henchmen to head north to Chartres and her fateful meetings with Will, Marie-Cécile and François-Baptiste.
‘Alice walked slowly up the central aisle, feeling suddenly on edge. She found the atmosphere oppressive. Grey sculpted headstones, white porcelain cameos and black granite inscriptions marking birth and death, resting places bought by local families à perpétuité to mark their passing.’
In the summer, this is the place to find the calèches – open horse-drawn carriages – for a tour of the Cité.
19 As you emerge from the cemetery, recross the piazza past the carousel and take the path through the Jardin du Prado. It will bring you down to a roundabout. Take the first exit on the left – again downhill – onto rue Gustave-Nadaud. As you follow the pavement down, you will see, on the north wall to your right, a magnificent mural depicting the history of Carcassonne.
If you are still full of energy, you could explore the lovely – but busy with traffic – rue Trivalle, which runs parallel. Have a look at the wrought-iron gates of the church of Notre-Dame de l’Abbaye and the eclectic selection of shops, galleries and restaurants.
‘Even when she left the Cité and started to walk down rue Trivalle towards the main town, she felt just as nervous. No matter what she said to herself, she was sure someone was following her.’
20 From the bottom of rue Gustave-Nadaud – where it meets rue Trivalle – you will be able to see the Pont Vieux where your tour began. Walk up onto the pedestrianised old bridge and look down into the water. Imagine the salt mills moored in the current, the chevaliers’ chargers cooling off in the shallows after exercise . . . Imagine the Crusader encampment on the far bank . . .
Then turn and look up at the battlements of the Cité – once thought impregnable, then besieged and forced by treachery and intolerance to submit.
Yes, the stones of the Cité were conquered, but thanks to Alaïs, Sajhë, Alice, Audric and the rest – the sprit of this special place was victorious.
Kate Mosse is the author of two works of non-fiction, two plays and five novels in addition to Labyrinth. Kate’s illustrated tribute to her local theatre – Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty – and the third novel in her Languedoc Trilogy, Citadel, will both be published in 2012. Labyrinth was an international bestseller, published in 40 countries and translated into 38 languages. It won the 2006 Richard & Judy Best Read at the British Book Awards and was chosen as one of Waterstone’s Top 25 novels of the past 25 years. The Co-Founder and Honorary Director of the Orange Prize for Fiction, Kate is Co-Director of the Chichester Writing Festival and on the Board of the National Theatre. She lives with her family in West Sussex.
For more information and up-to-date news about forthcoming projects visit her website at www.katemosse.co.uk
BY KATE MOSSE
Novels
Eskimo Kissing
Crucifix Lane
Labyrinth
Sepulchre
The Winter Ghosts
Citadel
Non-Fiction
Becoming a Mother
The House: Behind the Scenes at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Plays
Syrinx
Endpapers
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Orion Books. This eBook first published in 2009 by Orion Books.
Copyright © Mosse Associates Ltd 2005
The right of Kate Mosse to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
eISBN : 978 1 4091 0835 1
Photographs © Mark Rusher
This eBook produced by Jouve, France.
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