The grid is the giveaway. Unlike the tangled lanes of the Cité, the Bastide was planned in one go, with a central square and straight streets running off it. That square, Place Carnot, is the middle of the town in every practical sense.
The covered market and the open-air market on the square are the reason to be here on the right morning. Produce, cheese, charcuterie, olives and a fish stall that sells whatever came up from the coast, which is an hour away.
Restaurants in the Bastide are cheaper and generally better than those inside the walls, for the obvious reason that they serve people who will come back. The rule that holds everywhere holds here: eat where the menu is short and in French only.
The Pont Vieux, the old bridge across the Aude, is the connection between the two halves and the best approach to the Cité on foot. It is pedestrian, it takes about ten minutes from Place Carnot, and the view of the walls as you come over it is the reason to walk rather than drive.
Staying in the Bastide rather than beside the walls means paying less, eating better and walking home through a town that is still awake. It also means a climb at the end of the evening, which is a fair trade.
