Day #2: Carcassonne
After kicking the day off right with a hearty French breakfast, we headed out to explore La Cité – the historic medieval citadel. All I can say is ‘Wow.’ Picture a medieval hilltop town with an impressive castle and cathedral, surrounded by huge stone ramparts, and you’ll have some idea of what the citadel is like. We spent the better part of the day just exploring, wandering, and poking into the odd shop. In all honesty the day went by too quickly, and I found myself wishing for more time here. In the evening we boarded a train for Avignon. A couple of hours later we rolled in. Surprisingly, none of us had remembered to look up the local bus system beforehand, so we ended up dragging our suitcases 1.6 km in the dark to our apartment. We had a bit of a panic when we discovered that the gate was locked, and the owner had forgotten to supply us with a gate code! Thanks to a helpful girl passing by, we got it all straightened out without too much trouble. More Avignon tomorrow!
 |
| First breakfast in France. I’ve missed those European breakfasts! |
 |
| Getting closer to the old part of Carcassonne |
 |
| Old-town Carcassonne |
 |
| Part of the inner wall of Carcassonne’s impressive medieval castle |
 |
| Basilique Saint-Nazaire |
 |
| Basilique Saint-Nazaire |
 |
| Basilique Saint-Nazaire |
 |
| Streets of the old medieval citadel, within the castle walls |
 |
| Typical old southern French home |
 |
| Beautiful southern French countryside, with the Pyrenees for a backdrop (looking towards Andorra) |
 |
| Talk about a window with a view! |
 |
| Carcassonne’s old citadel |
 |
| The meticulously-restored castle walls of Carcassonne’s medieval citadel |
 |
| In spite of all the tourists, you can almost feel the clock slowing down here. And I regret to say that I didn’t sample the local Cassoulet while I had the chance. |
 |
| Definitely the most impressive castle I’ve ever seen. |
 |
| Hanging out at the train station, waiting for our ride to Avignon. |
