France | Day 11: Carcassonne, Mary Magdalene’s Cave & Arriving in the French Riviera

Thursday, June 22

After our 2:30 a.m. arrival the previous night, we slept in, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel, and headed out before 10:00 a.m. Our end destination was Villefranche, a little town just east of Nice on the Mediterranean Sea. So, once again, we had a long drive ahead of us (7.5 hrs) and two stops along the way! (And BTW, I had to upgrade my account for more space but that means I can now include VIDEOS!!!)

Jump to:

1. The Medieval City of Carcassonne, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
2. Mary Magdalene’s Cave at La Grotte de Sainte-Baume

The Medieval City of Carcassonne

Considered one of the largest and best-preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, the Medieval City of Carcassonne rests on a hilltop that has been fortified in one way or another for nearly 2500 years.

From the UNESCO website:
“Since the pre-Roman period, fortifications have been erected on the hill where Carcassonne is located today. In its present form, it is an outstanding example of a fortified medieval city with an enormous defensive system developed mainly in the 13th century.”

We arrived in Carcassonne at around 11:00 a.m. Because of our plans to visit Mary Magdalene’s Cave, we didn’t have a lot of time. So we limited our activities to walking the city wall, and visiting part of the palace and the church; plus snacks and shopping, of course!

Entrance to the city is free, and includes access to the streets, stores, church, and restaurants; however, you will need a ticket to enter the castle or walk the ramparts. We paid €11.00 and it was well worth it.

Coming from a country whose oldest buildings are wooden houses built in the 1600’s and sandstone Puebloan homes from the 1100’s, it’s mind blowing to see such a well-preserved towering city from the middle ages.

But before we move on, I must tell you about Amorino, the little gelato shop in Carcassonne, where I had the best sorbet of my life. The flavor was Lime Basil and I can assure you, there is no sorbet more refreshing on a warm June day. And while it may have tasted all the better for being the only time in my life that I would be able to enjoy this sorbet, I stand by my claim. Which I can do with confidence, because since then, I have actually had Amorino’s Lime Basil sorbet three more times – once in Strasbourg and twice in New York City. Yes, friends. The rare little Amorino turned out to be an international franchise!

Mary Magdalene’s Cave

OK, friends, now we’re on to Mary Magdalene’s cave, which turned out to be far more of an adventure – or shall we say ‘pilgrimage’ – than expected.

It all started with a text from my mom to our family group chat (which is titled Von Trapp, if you must know, although I’ll save the story of why for another time):

“Did you know that Mary Magdalene’s cave is in France? We just saw something about it on tv!”

Cue Christina researching said cave and immediately adding it to our itinerary. We were excited, but so were my parents because, as they said, they’d never get the chance to see it themselves.

Our understanding was that it was a 40 minute walk along a level trail through the woods, with a small hill close to the cave. For some reason we thought it was by the ocean, and pictured a walk down a hill to the coast. Well, it’s NOT near the ocean. And it’s not level.

Rather the site is located in a sort of no-man’s land between interior France and the Mediterranean coast. It reminded me so much of middle California – that space between the pacific coast and the Rocky Mountains. All along the drive, I kept thinking we were in California!

This was due not only to the terrain but also to the Spanish architecture. It was kind of wild to experience the commonality between southwestern USA, because of early Spanish settlers, and southwestern France, because of its proximity to Spain. Again, even really good internet research cannot prepare us for everything we encounter while traveling!

So as we were driving along these windy roads, we kept seeing this stone dwelling far up on a cliffside, and we were like:

“Wow! Who lives up there?! What could that be?! How does anyone get there?!”

If this were a play, that moment would be what we call “dramatic irony.” Because you, the audience already knows what we, the characters, do not: That the towering cliffside dwelling is OUR destination. And that we will soon find out exactly how anyone gets there!

We arrived a little before 5:00 p.m. It was a bit confusing because the GPS brought us to the Hostelry, a religious house held by the Dominican friars. Eventually, we found our way across the street to the gift shop. There, we saw so many postcards and souvenirs emblazoned with images of the cliffside dwelling that we slowly began to realize the truth of our destination. It also became clear that the gift shop would be closed before we returned from what was apparently going to be a proper hike. So we quickly gathered up a bunch of souvenirs. Then the friar who cashed us out gave us a map and sent us on our way.

As we adjusted to the revelation that this was now a genuine pilgrimage in a desert-hot valley, we brought the souvenirs back to our car, adjusted our wardrobe, and loaded up on water.

We were really feeling the pressure because it was already 5:00 p.m. and the chapel and cave were set to close at 6:30 p.m! The late hour, however, offered the advantage of lower crowds on the trail and cooler temperatures as the evening progressed. (Thankfully, the sun wouldn’t set until after 9:00 p.m.)

The vista was beautiful, but daunting. (Sound on!)

Almost all of the hike is in the shade. The trail is well kept, with stone steps in some of the steeper parts. However, let it be known, this trail is NOT for the faint of heart nor those who have difficulty walking.

Embracing the full experience of this proper religious pilgrimage, we decided to pass the time by reciting Bible verses we’d memorized. It was encouraging and strengthened us for the journey.

Between stops for water, catching our breath, and fighting off the crazy bees that assaulted us in the final stretch, it still only took us about 45 minutes to reach the top. And we all agreed it was worth it. Words won’t do it justice so I will let the videos and photos speak for me. This video gives you a good idea of what the outer area of the site is like:

The crosses as viewed from just inside the entrance:

The courtyard area outside the chapel:

The chapel is good and truly in a damp, dark, musty – but refreshingly cool – cave.

On the lower level is the shrine to Mary Magdalene:

Also on the lower level is a natural pool of water. If you listen closely to the video below you can hear water dripping down the rocks into the pool:

We sat and prayed, enjoying the silence, and caught the tail end of vespers. I’m glad we were there at the end of the day; with so few people, it was truly a peaceful time. I don’t know if Mary Magdalene really lived in this cave or not – but either way, she is honored there, as is Christ. And the still, small voice of the Spirit was present.

Before leaving, we very quietly called my parents so they could see it for themselves, over Facetime at least!

On our way down, feeling triumphant and blessed, we sang worship songs, including a fair number of vacation Bible school songs, to pass the time. We only allowed ourselves this indulgence because there were no other people on the trail to hear our less-than-stellar voices!!!!

But I will always remember it as one of the most truly joyful experiences of our trip.

Then it was back in the car for a 2+ hour drive to our Airbnb in Villefranche. Driving along the highways of the French Riviera, once again, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was in California. Although, I believe the French Riviera is somehow more built up than the coast of California. The number of multi-story hotels, apartment buildings, and houses rammed into the coastal cliffside was mind-boggling.

We tried to pop into Nice for a quick dinner but that was a fool’s errand. The heavy traffic, countless pedestrians, and frighteningly narrow roads were too much for Doug’s dwindling patience. And who could blame him after driving 1000 miles over two days, with stops to climb city walls and mountainsides, with only five hours of sleep in between?

So we resigned ourselves to a “dinner” of whatever snack food we had left in the car, and went to the Airbnb. When Doug was parking the car, after surviving the treacherously narrow streets, he said, “I am not getting back in this car until we drive out on Monday!” And he didn’t.

This is not the last time you will hear me say this: Our Airbnb was AMAZING! Nothing can beat the one in Paris, but this was a close second. By the time we arrived at around 9:30 p.m. it was dark but we weren’t complaining. View of the Mediterranean from our balcony:

Next up: Our weekend in Villefranche & Nice!