Carcassonne Tourism-The Narbonne Gate
Unless you are staying overnight inside “La Cite”, your first close view of the walled city will be while approaching the Narbonne Gate (on the East where the Parking is, 300 yards beyond the 13C Pont Vieux ). Vehicular entry is restricted to Cite hotel guests. Outside the 13 C double-towered gate is a double barbican (described in another Tip) and a moat (no longer filled) . The drawbridge has been sacrificed for easier access. Beyond this is a merry-go-round and the parking area. On the outer wall of the barbican is a bust of the apocryphal Mme. Carcas, who saved her town from a siege by Charlemagne through the ruse of throwing a pig over the walls, with innards stuffed with grain , thus disheartening him so that he went away in disgust. When we visited her image had undergone plastic surgery (we include a copy of an older picture). Part of the Carcas story implies that it is also how the city got its name, but indeed it has Gallic origins as Carcasso.