TODAY is the day for time travel.
First, we pretend to be extras in the Game Of Thrones television series as we visit the largest fortress in Europe at Carcassonne.
Stand in any part of the massive complex and the walls seem to go on forever.
About 3000 people live within the walls of the 700-year-old compound out of the 50,000 total population of the city in southern France.
And what an unusual life these Carcassonnians must lead in this twilight zone caught between two very different eras - the Middle Ages and the 21st century.
I'm told that jousts and other medieval tournaments and horse shows are held here. Yet visitors also will find fine dining restaurants and al-fresco cafes (many offering the local cassoulet bean dish) along the alleyways, wine bars under sprawling shade trees, boulangeries and patisseries to tempt the fullest stomach, plus medieval costumes and weapons for sale in the curio and souvenir shops.
The double ring of rampants, creating an outer and inner wall, is joined by 53 towers.
After falling into disrepair, the French Government declared the fortress would be demolished in 1849.
But the then mayor of Carcassonne, Jean-Pierre Cros-Mayrevieille, and others successfully campaigned to save the walls as a historical monument, and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc did the rest.
He obviously did a great job because Carcassonne became a UNESCO World Heritage-Listed Sites in 1997.
The rampants offer panoramas of the city and views over the nearby church where the angelic voices of guest artists could be heard today.
The structure was so impenetrable in the 12th and 13th centuries that would-be invaders could only hope to surround Carcassonne and wait until the inhabitants starved to death. They would always give up waiting before that happened.
Later this afternoon, we prove all roads lead to Rome by visiting some of the significant Roman ruins in the Provence city of Nimes.
They range from walls and columns of two remaining gates: Porte Auguste and Porte de France, to a mini Colosseum (Arenes, dating from the 2nd century and now the most visited monument in Nimes as a venue also for concerts, special events and even annual bullfights) and a smaller version of the Pantheon (Maison Carree, which was later converted to a church, thereby avoiding destruction and remaining well-preserved. It has served the city well in various guises including city hall and public art gallery).
The ruins total seven in all, and also include the Temple de Diane, Tour Magne (tower) and Castellum.
The Romans created most of the cities in the south of France. But Nimes was very important as it lay on the road built in 118BC to connect Italy with Spain, and its ruins certainly attest to that.
Lesson of the day: The future can build on the past but should always leave something behind for today. That's my theory but I may have had too many glasses of good French wine.
Bidet count: 1.
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