France – Narbonne (En)

Narbonne is bisected by the Canal de la Robine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is famous for its historical heritage. What we enjoyed most was its lively canalside market and the picturesque Passage de l’Ancre, located next to the Cathedral and the Palace.

Where to stay

We stayed at Camping Les Floralys (43.166087, 3.036483 latitude, longitude) next to the canal. The campsite costs €19 without electricity. We went because we wanted to use the showers and do laundry, but there’s no washing machine. When we looked at the campsite’s website, we saw a picture of our campervan, so we’d stayed there before and had forgotten. The showers have hot water, but the pressure is just okay. The toilets don’t have seats or toilet paper. Both the showers and toilets are unisex. The water filling and emptying area is in the middle of the campsite, opposite the pool, so it’s quite difficult to access, and we didn’t use it. The dishwashing area is outside; it has hot water, but beware of mosquitoes. There’s a swimming pool, but it was closed; a mini-golf course and a basketball court are very neglected. There’s also a foosball table and a ping-pong table, but they’re in pretty bad shape. There’s an open restaurant, but we didn’t try it. The best thing about the campsite is its location, as you can walk or cycle to the centre.

What to see

We went on the motorbike and parked next to the market and a rather imposing church. We walked around the church, but it was closed, and we couldn’t go in. We did go into the market, though, and it’s quite nice, especially because it’s opposite the square where the lively street market was, and we loved it. The market is situated along the sides of the canal, which you cross via several bridges.

We crossed the bridges from which we took some really cool photos.

We arrived at the square where the City Hall and the Palace Museum are located. The square is beautiful, with bars and restaurants all around. We entered the Palace Museum, where the Courtyard of Honour is particularly noteworthy; the New Archbishops’ Palace was built around it in several stages.

Inside, we also saw the Hall of Portraits of the Consuls of Narbonne, from the beginning of the 17th century, and the Tower of the Great Staircase, a medieval tower more than 30 meters high.

We left through a side exit of the palace and entered the magnificent Cathedral.

We went outside and passed through the beautiful L’Ancre passage, on a corner of the square with restaurants and alleyways on either side.

We finished our visit at another canal in the city.

We left Narbonne and went to Béziers, one of the oldest cities in France, which offers impressive sights such as the 13th-century Saint Nazaré Cathedral and the Nine Locks of Fonseranes, which you can see in the next blog.