Limoux [map], a town in the Aude department (and on the Aude river), south of Carcassonne, has an Old Bridge (Pont Vieux) that was rebuilt in the 19th century (our first photo). The Pont Vieux crosses the Aude river into the southern part of town. Before we got around to researching, we looked around and noticed an unusual comparison with another, nearby bridge.
About 300 meters downstream, the New Bridge (Pont Neuf) crosses the Aude directly into the center part of Limoux. We thought, to our uneducated eye, the other bridge looked rather newer than the Pont Neuf. A quick bit of research confirmed our observation: the Pont Neuf was built in 1327, about 500 years before the Old Bridge.
We can only imagine there was a really old bridge at the time those 14th-century engineers were building their Pont Neuf, and the name as stuck all this time.
Oh, yes, there's a really new bridge another 300 m downstream, crossing the river at the northern end of Limoux.
Apart from the bridges, Limoux has a number of ancient sights to see, including its central square, the Place de la Républic. This open square has arches along three sides (and parked cars along two sides), a very interesing fountain, and lots of terrace cafés.
We weren't the only people affected by this reverse-naming convention. But while we were merely amused, an elderly local man we asked about the bridges became rather irate about the stupidity of the situation.
We crossed all three bridges when we came to them, and then went on to more important things in the town. Limoux is famous for its naturally-bubbly wine. "Blanquette", or "Blanquette de Limoux" is the world's first naturally-fizzy wine, being made, and drunk, since the 14th century (about the time the Pont Neuf was built). Called a bubbly wine, we found the Blanquette to very akin to Champagne in taste (although not in creation).
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