DELAYED POST, I am catching up our blog after our blogging hiatus while recovering from walking the Camino de Santiago.
December 6, 2013
La Magie de Noël (The Magic of Christmas) Festival is a month-long (December 6, 2013 to January 5, 2014) celebration throughout Carcassonne.
There was a Christmas market in Square Gambetta with a Ferris wheel, carousel, and two children’s carnival rides.
In Place Carnot (the town square) the city had erected an ice skating rink. The rink had live and recorded music, food booths, and later at night “ice go karts” were available for the adventurous.
At Place d’Armes and Port Jacobin (Jacobin Gate) there was a large roller coaster and a children’s roller coaster and spin rides.
Jardin Andre Chenier (Andre Chenier Garden) had a simulated sled run, mild for children and steep for the more bold with several more children’s rides and food booths.
The final venue was up in the medieval la Cité de Carcassonne was a christmas crafts market behind the Basilique Saint-Nazaire-et-Saint-Celse.
During the month there was all kinds of live music scheduled at the different venues. The city businesses all had Christmas trees decorated with ribbons outside their front doors and there were Christmas lights hung over the streets. In short, the Christmas spirit was everywhere we walked. Square Gambetta is only a block away from our apartment and there were several special trips for seasonal specialties and stops for vin chaud (hot spiced wine.)
An Italian Point Of View 