My Fairy Tale Castle (Carcassonne)

I recently visited Carcassonne, a fortified town in the South of France. First built up by the Romans, and then  founded by Visigoths, the castle was restored by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, renowned for his gothic architecture, in 1853. In 1997 Carcassonne joined the list of UNESCO'S World Heritage Sites.

The chateau is truly magical, as it resembles the dream fairy tale castle. The towers and city walls loom over the city, and their distinct style is immediately recognizable. 

The view from the chateau over the city is superb - you can see why the chateau is in the perfect position to defend the rest of the city! The tiny gaps in the walls were designed so that the soldiers within the chateau would be able to see out and shoot arrows to outside the chateau.

The picture above and below are two of my favorite pictures. It is quite clear that no matter which angle you look out from the chateau, you are always going to stumble across a beautiful view.

The towers of the chateau almost look quite strange - their roofs look far too small for the tower. Here you can see the gaps in the walls the soldiers used to see and shoot out of. Inside the towers, they defended their town and were quite safe from outsiders!

 The main town of Carcassonne itself is located inside the walls, and you can see where a moat would have ran round the outside. It is a beautiful quaint town to spend the day, with cute shops and the cathedral to visit. 

Below are a couple of pictures from the town itself, and you can see how lovely the atmosphere is. If you are going to visit the South of France, definitely pay a visit to Carcassonne!

All of these pictures are unedited, and they have all been taken by me so please don't steal them!

Sunny Alaska

I've lucky enough to have travelled to a huge number of places - Africa, New Zealand and Hong Kong to name a few. A couple of years ago I went on a three week trip through Canada and on to Alaska. It will take me a few blog posts to show you all of my favourite moments, but now I am going to show you one of my most cherished moments in Alaska.

On a summers day in 2012 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel in water plane around Juneau. The plane was tiny - seating 5!! I was sat at the back of the plane, and I am sure I saw some parcel tape holding together a few things... anyway, I survived! 

As you can see, the weather was beautiful. There is nothing quite like the feeling of skimming over water in a tiny little plane, knowing that you are one of a selection of people that have visited such a unique place.

As we flew over the land the pilot pointed out to us different feature's of the land and bears that he could see below. 

The magical thing about Alaska is how diverse and natural the land is. Renowned for being one of the most difficult places in the world to get supplies too, Alaska is peaceful, undisturbed and simply stunning. Full of glaciers, beaches, rivers and mountains, you are never short of something special to look at. 

Just as we landed on a small island not far off from Juneau we saw a huge black bear staring right back at us!   Luckily, he stayed around long enough for us to take a small few snaps and then he disappeared so we could have a walk along the shore of the island. 

The shore was full of sea-stars. It was one of those times where once you noticed one, you couldn't stop spotting them! They kept moving their little legs, (do you say legs?) as well! 

As you can see the scenery was spectacular! 

The two pictures above, took my ages to capture! We were blessed to see shoals of salmon swimming and jumping upstream! 

All of these pictures have been taken by me and they have not been edited. Please do not steal them!!! 

The journey through Canada and Alaska took us to some magnificent places, and I feel that this day out was definitely one worth sharing. Hopefully in the next few months  I will remember to share a few more moments with you!