This morning Alain gave us yogurt, fresh croissants, homemade spice breads and jam, coffee and hot chocolate. Francois pulled out his maps and wanted to see our intended route and made some recommendations of things to see along the way. Unfortunately, we knew we wouldn’t have time, but he was a wealth of info and we appreciated his time. We left to them both waving goodbye to us, just like a Mom & Dad, he he!
The scenic 3 ½ hour country drive to Carcassonne was beautiful. Small, hilly towns dot the area mixed in with cow pastures. We stopped at McD’s to use their Wifi and ended up sharing a Big Mac and fries, we weren’t that hungry after a big breakfast. We arrive at our small hotel around 3pm, dump our bags and begin walking to the completely walled, old city of Carcassonne, about a km away.
The outside walls are imposing and impressive, making the town appear much bigger than it actually is inside.
Big round towers and turrets seem to keep watch over the town. We enter through the only large port gate to small cobbled, narrow streets barely wide enough for a small car. Shops and restaurants fill the buildings with hotels and homes above. One large chateau palace is in the center of town which we did not enter, not worth the 8E entrance. We strolled all the little medieval streets that seemed to wind around each other in circles.
Carcassonne photos
We found a resto that opened at 6, so we decided to try it. We were seated near a burning wood fireplace stove with all kinds of very old knick knacks hanging from the beamed ceilings, creating a fantastic candle lit ambience. We ordered their 3 course plat du jour specials, Terry ordered salad, ham & cheese crepe casserole and I ordered salad, grilled chicken and potatoes, which were grilled right in front of us on the little fire. Our dinners came complete with a big bowl of very rich chocolate ice cream - the whole meal was excellent! With full bellies, we walked back to the hotel for rest.
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