Carcassonne

I've had the idea of visiting Carcassonne for a while, but it was given fresh impetus when I watched Kate Mosse's Labyrinth. The beauty of the setting, and its bloody history, took my breath away. One interesting statistic is that my blog post about Labyrinth struck a chord, because it has been viewed more than five thousand times, a figure I find pleasing if rather startling. I was even contacted by a holiday business in Carcassonne as a result.

However, when I finally made it to this fascinating part of southern France, I decided to stay in the heart of the medieval city, at the Hotel de la Cite, which is right next to the Basilica. For a short stay, this proved a wonderful choice. There's nothing like exploring somewhere gorgeous when you are right on the spot, and don't need to travel. Carcassonne more than lived up to expectations.

I didn't see many copies of Kate Mosse's book around, to my surprise, but the history of the Cathars and the Crusades is everywhere. Until recently, I didn't know much about this bit of the past, but it's certainly fascinating, and a son et lumiere show in the grounds of the old castle one evening was a wonderful way to soak up the atmosphere.

The town of Carcassonne outside the old (but restored) walls is also very appealing, and the Canal du Midi runs right past the railway station. Canal trips, as I've mentioned before on this blog, are a favourite pastime of mine, and I managed to fit in three trips up and down the very scenic route. It was all wonderfully relaxing, and put me in just the right frame of mind to start planning my next book.

On the subject of my writing, The Frozen Shroud is due out in the UK next month, and to celebrate, my current plan is to post more regularly to this blog than the usual three times a week. You never know, I may even get around to reviving my Twitter account!

Kate Mosse's Labyrinth - Channel 4 miniseries TV review

Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse, is a book I haven't read, but I thought I'd give the Channel 4 TV miniseries version of the book a go,  not least because Carcassonne, where the story is set, is very high on my list of places to visit. Another factor was that, though I don't know her, I've heard Kate Mosse speak, and she does come over very well. Rightly or wrongly, this made me think I might like her best-selling story.

There are, in fact, two stories, set 800 years apart, but connected by one woman. She is Alice Tanner, a teacher who goes to France after breaking up with a boyfriend, in order to claim an inheritance under a will. En route, she volunteers to help a friend on an archaeological dig near a mysterious cave. There she has a strange experience, almost like a hallucination, which seems to connect her with a woman from the area's bloody history.

That woman is Alais, played by Jessica Brown Findlay, who is embroiled in a power struggle linked to the Crusades. Her husband is having an affair with her venomous half-sister, but Alais' task, she learns from her father, is to find the Holy Grail. Now, I must admit that this development was a bit of a turn-off, as Holy Grail quest stories are not my favourite form of fiction. On the other hand, I'm fascinated by mazes and labyrinths, and also by mysterious wills.. And there's a liveliness about the way the two stories interconnect that has kept me interested after the first two-hour instalment.

The cast is strong, including John Hurt and Janet Suzman as well as the two exceptionally attractive women in the lead roles. The lovely setting is also a plus. Certainly, watching Labyrinth has reinforced my desire to take a look at Carcassonne on of these fine days. So will I keep watching? The answer is yes.