Gambetta by Night

Looking at the Museum

Roses against the deepening blue

One of the singular pleasures of living here is going out to one of the parks at the end of a warm day, when evening is gaining ascendancy.  The blue of the sky deepens, the air loses some of its heat as the sun sets, and a calm settles over the town.  Carcassonne can in no way be described as a "night-life" town.  Many old-line Bastide restaurants, hopping busy during the day, do not serve dinner.  My favorite bar, the 98, where the Irish musicians gather to play, has taken to closing by 9:00.  Perhaps the most telling sign of all is that the Bastide's only sex shop is open only from 1 in the afternoon until 7 in the evening!!! No late-night fantasies or loitering here.

Roses at dusk

Play of light and water

 And all of this is fine with me.  I have never been much for going out late at night, and that tendency to stay in after dark just gets more ingrained with each passing year.  Years and years of having to be up early for work, or avoiding smoky clubs on Saturday nights because I had to sing on Sunday morning deeply shaped my current habits.

Looking east

However, I had recently had the occasion to go out as it was getting dark, to show one of my guests the lights of La Cite at night from one of the bridges across the Aude.  I neglected to take my camera, and kicked myself repeatedly as we walked though Gambetta, and watched the water and lights of the fountains.

Pink roses and jasmine climb

Can't you hear the water

When I first visited Carcassonne, in the fall/winter of 2013, Gambetta was a flat, concrete-tiled plaza, with little to attract guests.  There were some platane trees along both long borders, but basically Gambetta's charm was that it covered underground parking.  The Saturday "Arab" market was held there, and that was nice, because there was plenty of room for the vendors and the buyers to spread out.  At Christmas, the plaza was transformed: the platane trees sported loops of swoopy blue lights, the "white" Christmas tree dominated the square.  There were rows of little wooden Christmas market huts whose vendors offered hot wine, local foods and delicacies.  There was an enormous carousel and Ferris wheel, both ablaze with lights.  For about a month, Gambetta was THE place to be, especially in the evenings. 

One of the bronzes that are found throughout the park

Interesting shapes

Then in 2015, it became the focus of Mayor Larrat's renewal project.  The city planted rows and rows of roses, trellises for them and the jasmine plants to climb, permanent seating, a lighted fountain, a permanent carousel and playground for the children and arranged for a kiosk that offers refreshments and snacks to the public.  Gambetta is a busy place now, but because of its size, it never feels crowded.  I miss the Christmas market there, but I love what it has become.

Looking toward the Art Museum

Art Museum facade detail

So, I dragged another visitor to see Gambetta  by night, only this time I had my camera in hand.  We had ever so much fun trying to capture just the right photo, all the while enjoying the early night ambience of the sweet, jasmine and rose scented air, the gurgle of the water and the dying down of the traffic.  Carcassonne was settling down for the night.  We had to hurry, though--the fountain gets turned off at 10:00.

The water is quiet for the rest of the night