Carcassonne

Carcassone, arrived  Sunday July 31, left Monday August 1  

I apologize for being so very behind with the blog.  We are alive and very well. I was going to catch up on the train from Avignon to Nice, but that was like a third world journey so I was unable to.  More about that later.

We left Bordeaux on a beautiful morning for Carcasonne, a place I’d always wanted to visit.  Since it was in the general area from Bordeaux to Avignon we thought we’d go for one at least one night.  Some friends had told us we needed to spend a week there, other friends had said half a day would do, so we weren’t sure what to expect.  As we are traveling by train, it’s not always easy because we have so much luggage.  Once you’re on the train, it’s been great, but the tight transfers with no elevators can make for some frayed nerves and strained muscles.  We had decided not to stay in a hotel but an apartent.  We arrived at the apartment and found, no lie, it was on the third floor basically up vertical winding steps.  I suggested to Cham that he leave this suitcase on the landing because there was no way he was going to be able to get it up and down the very steep and narrow stairs. We entered a lovely apt that didn’t have a breath of air and then with the bed and bath up another set of steps that were within the living room, kitchen area with really and truly, not a breath of air.  We messaged the landlord and asked if he had a fan.  Since we were there and it was hot, we decided to go ahead and walk to the walled city.  I have to admit the location of the apt was great.  As you approach this huge bridge, you see the incredibly impressive walled city high on a mountain in front of you.  It is massive. We walked up to the city and there are hundreds of people, especially young families.  We’ve become big fans of taking the small tourist trains around the area because it gives you a good overview. We decided to take the train which just went around the perimeter of the castle. It would have taken us a very long time to walk around it because it was so huge.  It was also the worst path I’ve been on.  We’ve found they’re not as safety conscious as we are in the U.S. so that made the train ride a little more interesting.  We finished the ride and decided to head into the interior. We found Mont St. Michel on steroids.  No wonder there were so many children there; I’ve never seen so much play medieval weaponry for sale in my life: swords, helmets, shields, you name it with kids practicing with them everywhere. For those of you who have been to Mont St. Michel, it has the same steep steps up the center with gift shops on either side, but none of the spiritual aspects.  It’s truly a fortress that was never taken by siege.  As in all of the cities we’ve visited, it was first settled by the Celts, then the Romans.  Several rulers used the fortress throughout history.  It is a beautiful setting, the Black Mountains are on one side of you, a river, the Aude, flows by at the base, truly, lovely landscape.  Usually we eat dinner outside whenever we can, but the wind was blowing so hard at the top, we chose not to do so and ate inside at a lovely restaurant in the center of the fortress. I can only imagine what it was like centuries ago dealing with the wind if you were one of the watchmen in the town’s many towers.  

As it had been a long travel day, we went back to the stifling room where we found Cham’s suitcase had been brought upstairs, sigh, and a box with a fan in it. That was some great news until we found we had to put the fan together with no tools and directions in French.  Thankfully, I’m a little mechanically inclined so I put it together and we went up to the airless room.  It was a long night.  We woke up early and even though the train for which we had tickets didn’t leave for Avignon until noon we decided to head to the train station and catch an earlier train. Cham took his shower first.  It also had a nice shower – one with the huge overhead shower head, which he likes, and a wand, which I like.  I went to change it from the overhead to the wand and the water pressure blew the tubing off the wand.  That was it for me.  We left. I have no idea how Cham got all of the luggage down the steps.  I knew I couldn’t help and I knew I couldn’t watch.  Really and truly, he’s got some muscles! I’m glad I saw Carcasonne, but I’m in the takes a half a day camp.  It is in a beautiful part of the country and we would recommend making the effort to go there.