Today is a travel day. We decided to use the train to get around Europe this trip.
Very weird occurrences last night in our hotel room. Between 04:00 and 04:30 the closet lights came on six times. I even got up to take the key card out to stop it and that didn't work..... very eerie.....The night before Lana's lamp light activated itself. I think we were sharing the room with a ghost?
We are up, dressed and down to the breakfast buffet. The taxi at the hotel stand and cost 45Euro to take us to the train station! Apparently it is flat rate to the airport and train station no matter where they pick you up from in the city. Ridiculous for a twelve minute ride. Sants is a huge train station in the middle of Barcelona. Inside there are long lineups of people with luggage waiting for their train. There is security at the entrance. Our departure is scheduled for 09:28 and we should be the fourth station on the route. We take an escalator down to the train tracks level. We are in our designated train seats at 09:20 with both bags secured in the luggage area. We have comfortable seats side by side with me at the window. There is free wifi on TGV INOU Portal so good news and our train leaves on time!
There are young Germans around us and our seats are backward to the direction of the train so Lana needs to move. Car #18 Upper Deck seats 67/68. There is a long dark tunnel on departure. Five minutes later we emerge into the light. We are on a high speed train. Ooops, wifi not working. Our friends Al and Pat meet us at Narbonne train station and hand us a bag of breakfast pastries (so thoughtful!) where we will transfer to a train to take us to Carcassonne. It looked like it must have rained just before we arrived. The sun comes out! On arrival in Carcassonne it is warm and sunny and about a twelve minute walk from train station to our Airbnb.
Being a Sunday in Europe most everything is closed. It's about 18 degrees here, but winds can get up to 50 km/hour today. Caroline is our host and greets us at the door of our Airbnb as they live very nearby. This is a two storey home with two bedrooms with a washer/dryer downstairs. We have a large living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. It is a very old place with lots of character and a welcoming vibe. Lana has a nap and as I sit in the living room I can hear the wind blowing outside. Lana wakes up after 14:00. We decide to walk to "Europe's largest best preserved medieval fortified town" which makes Carcassonne a prime tourist destination.
Normally on trains/subways it is "mind the gap".... Lana did not see this sign on the train and put her hand in the door to try and keep it open. Guess what, no sensor so it shut on her hand. So embarrassing as what happened is exactly what's on this safety sign, which Lana saw afterwards and just laughed.
Online pic of Carcassonne's fortress.
Hey, this is my picture of Carcassonne and not the internet!
I had read about Carcassonne prior to our trip and it looked like taking a walking route around the ramparts was the best choice to really see this menacing structure from ancient times. We used GPS to navigate ourselves to "Chateau Comtal" and then a narrow dirt road took us to the ramparts and to begin our way around the fortifications. Allegedly, a three km loop, but according to my watch a little more than two kms loop. We find there is an outer wall and then an inner wall with some sections where it is quite a distance between the walls. Various stairs can take you inside the fortification. Some spectacular views from the walls of the surrounding countryside and town. This is not a castle. Huge towers at various places.
This must have been very intimidating in olden times to armies/soldiers. It is on top of the hill so overlooks everything. Inside the inner wall are many shops, restaurants, tourist places and other interesting spots. Some shops sell huge jars of cassoulet! Cassoulet is one of my all-time favourite comfort foods and this is the area of France where it is valued. There are ceramic serving bowls of cassoulet as well and Lana is eyeing them trying to figure out if she can buy one and carry it around for the rest of the trip. After some thought, the answer is definitely not doable!
Lana found a shop specializing in tea and bought some white tea with passion fruit/apricot and some pineapple/passion fruit jam. She is calling this the tea for the boat trip as a nice remembrance of the experience. We decided to look for the restaurant we had booked for dinner tonight. Our Airbnb host recommended the place. This area is full of winding streets and no cars. Just pedestrian traffic.
Map of the old town within the fortified walls.
I loved this Medieval fortress and it is so well preserved. Have I already said it is not a castle? 👍
Note the ominous dark clouds. Part way walking around it started pelting rain and the winds picked up.
Great sign.
Cassoulet heaven!!!!!!!!!!
More cassoulet dreaming. And the ceramic baking dish I know Lana's is coveting.
OK, time to return to our Airbnb. Remember we are in France and restaurants don't usually open until 19:00 at the very earliest. It is still gusty with winds as we walk back to our home. We started a load of laundry around 17:00. Lana opens some windows for fresh air as these older places can get musty. Lana naps for a while and we keep checking the washing machine by going downstairs, but two hours later it is still operating. I am starting to think the washing machine is broken because it's taking so long but Lana says give it 3 hours as high efficiency washers take forever. We leave for the restaurant and hope the washer is done on our return from dinner.
We make it to
Restaurant Le Saint Jean with no problems, but discover all the inside tables are reserved. And there is not a large indoor space, maybe 9 tables? There are only two small tables outside available on the front deck and under cover with a heat lamp nearby. Wow, this restaurant is busy on a Sunday night. Both servers speak English and the menu is in English as well. The outdoor seating is comfortable and probably less noisy than inside.
Menu outside of the restaurant.
Cute sign outside.
The restaurant is located within the medieval walls.
I am super eager for my cassoulet! I order the 21Euro special which starts with a salad, then cassoulet and finishes with a dessert of Mango Pannacotta. Lana orders a pork chop with frites (French fries). The salad is really good especially with the cheese toasted topped with crispy onion. Total cost of dinner = 59Euro.
I ordered a full-bodied red to pair with my cassoulet. 2018 Chateau Tour Boisée from the Minervois region. It is a 500 ml bottle which I will not finish, but will cork it and take it to drink with our friends on the canal boat. Delicious bottle. I found it very rare that their 'house' wine list was a bottle from six years ago. Never happens anywhere else to my knowledge. Check out the colour.
Here we go! This cassoulet met my expectations. Flavourful beans with sausage, duck (canard) and other flavours. I am on cloud nine here. 💖
Lana's pork chop with french fries. She described it as "delicious".
Very late meal and we need to walk home in the dark. Great news that Lana's knee is holding up. Our laundry is finally finished and we put it in the dryer and hope it will dry. Now around 21:30 and we are both tired. Seems pretty quiet here. Huge king size bed!
Another pic of the fortress!
Map of the city of Carcassonne.
Another great day! My Garmin shows 19,200 steps with more than 40 floors elevation gain. Our host told us no rush tomorrow so we will try to sleep in.
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