The Beauty of Narbonne
Narbonne is a small city south-east of Toulouse just an hour and a half train journey, close to the Spanish border. Despite the size, Narbonne offers a beautiful cathedral, art gallery and tower in the centre, along with the ancient storage tunnels and the River Aude that runs through.
Tickets
To see the Donjon Gilles Aycelin tower, art gallery and another tower within the Cathedral filled with collected treasures and religious artifacts, tickets are needed but they are very cheap. For an adult it is six euros, but student prices are four euros with a valid student id. Despite the cathedral being free, I would recommend buying these tickets, as the views and art are incredible and my personal favourite within this city.
The Donjon Gilles Aycelin Tower
The breath was taken out of me when I walked up the many steps towards the top of the Donjon Gilles Aycelin Tower, both from the beautiful views of Narbonne but also due to the wind. Narbonne is close to the coast, and so it is often windy and at 42 metres high the winds are powerful, so beware of phones and glasses that could potentially fly away. In order to reach the top, there is a number of steps up a spiral staircase which are uneven and steep, but well worth the climb.
The ‘top-down’ view of the Cathedral was incredible! I have never been somewhere where there is a building or tower so close to the cathedral that is tall enough to take in the architectural beauty of them. The intricate flying buttress (inclined structural bars on the outside) can be seen in great detail from the tower, along with one of the towers connected to the cathedral, the gothic windows, and all the incredible arches.
Not only is the view of the cathedral amazing, but the 360 of Narbonne is stunning with not one bad angle. Despite nearly being blown away, the weather was perfect for my visit, blue skies with a few scattered clouds. The pink, orange and yellow buildings stretch for miles until they reach the rolling hills surrounding the city, along with the River Aude which is decorated with a row of trees either side.
What made this so special to me was that it knocked, most likely from the wind, the fact that I was by myself, had complete freedom and was lucky to see this. Doing this, climbing a tower and seeing these incredible views, was what I wanted to do and there were no expectations.
Palais des Archevêques: Museum of Art and History
Renaissance and Baroque art has my heart, the paintings and sculptures are so beautiful and eye-catching, and this small gallery provides that and more. This area, as stated above, requires a ticket to enter and is the second stop of the ‘tour’. Located to the left of the small square of the museum, sits a grand staircase leading up to the Palais des Archevêques.
Not only does this gallery hold stunning pieces of art, but they are within beautifully decorated rooms. The first room’s walls are covered in paintings, but the main attraction is the ceiling paintings, in which there is a screen that allows visitors to discover more about each of the sections and their meanings, such as the paintings of Clio, Calliope, Polyhymnia, and Urania. The ceiling focuses on the muses, for example Clio was the muse of history.
Stunning portraits and landscape paintings fill the rooms from French, Spanish, and Italian artists such as Pierre Patel and Giovanni Panini to name a few.
The exhibition concludes with an incredible collection of oriental artworks from Benjamin-Constant, Émile Bernard, Jacques Majorelle, along with others. These pieces of art are beautiful as they are, however the decoration of the rooms adds so much to the experience. The walls are decorated with colourful arches that bring the room to life and compliments the art.
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Louis Garneray’s depiction of the Battle of Navarin covers one of the walls and is truly magnificent, I must have stood there taking in every section of this painting for ten minutes or longer. From the men on land, the armada on fire, the city/town in the background to the beautiful mountains.
Although this museum is more of an art gallery than history, it is well worth the visit, and each piece contains history recreated artistically rather than factually.
Courtyard of the Cathedral
The cathedral’s courtyard contains blooming roses that shine under the spotlight of the sun, with the large cathedral looming in the background. This area reminded me of Hogwarts! Between the arches around the courtyard, this is a great picture spot as it provides a beautiful backdrop with the cathedral in the background.
Cathedral
The gothic cathedral was magnificent, with tall arched stone ceilings, beautifully carved wooden pews, and one of my favourite parts was the huge wooden organ hung high on the wall. Each smaller section of the aisles on either side of the main area, that wraps around the church, contains worship areas, with artwork and sculptures of Mary and Saints.
The last area the ticket allows access to is the small treasure tower within the Cathedral, up a spiral staircase to the right after entering the church. The room is encased by a beautiful dome of stone, where many treasures are preserved, such as the book of archbishop Pierre de la Jugie from 1350 as well as coins and other treasure boxes. This tower only takes a few minutes to view as it is small, but well worth it and houses some of Narbonne’s incredible history.
Horreum Romain: The Ancient Tunnels
The tunnels were a short distance from the main tourist square and easily accessible. Those under 25 enter for free, and I am so glad I did not spend money on this, nor would I recommend it as it is so short and if you do not understand French, it is hard to understand and take in the experience in full.
When I first walked down the steps into the dark, I was alone and convinced some sort of ghost was going to attack me. It is poorly lit, cold, and the perfect place for a horror movie to be set. A long tunnel greets you at the bottom of the steps and as you follow the arrows, small little pitch-black nooks greet you at each turn.
The further I went, I could hear noises, and at first I thought that was my end, dramatic I know, but then I stumbled across a few families, and felt safer and silly for being so scared. Small piles of stones and rubble are displayed along with a few sections of fake produce, to represent what the tunnels were originally used for, but other than that, they are creepy dark tunnels.
Despite this, the history of the tunnels are cool but I personally do not believe they were necessary to see. They were originally built during the Roman Empire as storage for food. It is also the last remaining ancient ‘monument’ remaining in Narbonne today, in which the walls have been preserved very well considering how old they are, going back to the 1st century BC.
Food
A few steps off the main square sits Banana Matcha, a small but cute juice bar that provided the best and filling smoothie bowl that I have ever tasted. The owner, Max Herpe, was incredibly friendly and welcoming, especially with my limited French. As my first time eating out in a foreign country, it was the perfect place to dip my toes into the possibility of eating out and to feel more comfortable ordering. Banana Matcha is definitely on the list of places to visit when visiting Narbonne, whether to sit down or takeaway.
Narbonne is walkable and for the tourist sights it is easily done in a day. I have never heard of Narbonne before this trip, but I would recommend it and feel that this little city needs more praise. The surrounding area outside of the centre felt a bit unsafe, but it was still a very enjoyable few days and loved it.
