The lices between the double ramparts

Carcassonne has two concentric rings of wall, and the space between them, the lices, is a broad grass and gravel corridor that runs almost the whole way round the Cité. It was the killing ground in a siege; today it is the quietest place in the fortress, because the visitor flow goes straight up the main street and out again without ever discovering the ring road behind the buildings.

For a photographer it is the best of Carcassonne. The two walls give parallel curving lines that pull a couple into the distance, the towers step along at regular intervals, and the grass keeps the base of the frame clean. It works close, with the stone as a plain textured backdrop, and wide, with the corridor receding — and there is enough of it that you can always find an empty stretch.

Light varies with which side you are on. The eastern lices catch morning sun between the walls; the western side gets it late, and in the last hour the low sun comes along the corridor and rakes the stonework. Overcast is genuinely fine here because the walls provide all the structure the frame needs.

Practical: the lices are freely accessible on foot for most of their length and there is no ticket for the corridor itself — the ticketed part is the Château Comtal and the rampart walk on top of the inner wall, which is a separate route. Some sections close for works or events, so expect the odd detour. The ground is grass, gravel and uneven cobble, and there is no shade, which matters in July and August.