On the map/In the book

We have always known that our property has a bit of history and that it is one of the oldest of the 'hotel particuliers', or grand townhouses, in Carcassonne. We know this because when we bought the property, the age of the building, 1735, was clearly shown in the deeds. We know this because one of my neighbours gave me a photocopied page describing the house, it's history, the owners and some of the magnificent features, not all of which, such as the fountain and the garden, are still in existence. We know this because of the magnificent plasterwork, ornate fireplaces, carved double wooden doors, parquet flooring and crumbling lime mortar walls!

We also know this because the property appears on the town maps displayed at the top of the rue de Verdun and by the tourist office kiosk by the Canal du Midi. The maps are tourist guides showing the layout of the Bastide and highlighting some of the most important or architecturally interesting buildings and our property is clearly marked on rue Victor Hugo and listed in the index as Hotel Roques (XVIII siecle). The house is named, as per the usual French custom, after M. Roques, a wealthy textile merchant, who paid for it's construction in the eighteenth century.

A new guide book went on sale today called 'La Bastide de Carcassonne en poche'. It is a pocket guide to the most interesting buildings in the bastide town and a few just beyond it's borders. It is crammed full of colour photos from behind their big front doors and shuttered windows and makes me realise what a treasure trove there is out of sight of the public and, in fact, how much of it has been neglected by the town's authorities and inhabitants.

Page 37 of the guide is devoted to Hotel Roques, showing photographs of the front of the building from the street, the archway, the stone carvings above the windows, the front door in the courtyard and the magnificent stone staircase with it's wrought iron balustrade and confirming what we knew of the history of the building but sadly not really adding much more to our knowledge, other than the fact that the big double wooden front doors are Louis XV doors. I have to remind myself now and again that the property was built when the French still had royalty and before the Revolution put paid to them.

So, not only are we on the map, we are also in the book as well. How very exciting.