Day 69: Carcassonne, France

So, I just got back from my overnight trip to Carcassonne, and it was absolutely incredible.  Our Day started VERY early on Friday morning.  At 5am, I met up with Alex, Forrest and Jamie to walk to the train station for our 6am train.  We were all pretty dead, but it was ok. In Pau, Thursday night is the big party/bar night, and since today is Armistice Day, last night must have been a wild scene.  To put it into perspective, as I was walking to meet them, I was somewhat surprised when I saw a guy walking down the street, and I was VERY confused when I saw three more.  In town, there were people everywhere, most of them drunk.  Once in Toulouse, we had to wait for two hours for our next train, so we walked and found a cafe.  The streets were very crowded for 8am on a holiday, and well over half of the people out were still out from the previous night.

I got a Menu Petit Dej which was just a croissant, OJ, and cafe.  I also got a chocolatine, because I am fat.  A chocolatine is a pastry with two strips of chocolate inside.  They are mostly found in the South, and they are good.

We sat for about 45min while we woke and chatted a little bit.  The cafe was on Robert Schuman Blvd. The train ride from Toulouse to Carcassonne was very quick.  I got to take the TGV, so it was very nice, and very fast. 

These trains are very nice.  And tons of leg room! I was seated on the upper deck of the train.

Lots of this on the way to Carcassonne.

 

When we arrived in Carcassonne, we spent about two hours in the Lower, or New, City.  It was established in 1247, after a siege did considerable damage to the fortress city across the river.  It is interesting, because the city is built on a very organized grid, which I haven't seen in many other places in Europe. 

 

 

  The city has a lot of character, despite being so young.  Here is one of the main shopping streets as well as one of the      Medieval churches in the Lower City.

I liked the shutters on these flats.

We were very excited because the weather forecast was absolutely perfect.  Here, Forrest is very excited because the sun finally actually came out, even if only for 15 seconds.

This is Le Canal du Midi.  It starts somewhere to South or East or Southeast of Caracassonne andgoes all the way to Bordeaux. 

Real creative slogan, Guy...  Where'd you come up with that one? 

The two hours were a creative way of waiting for Anne and Becca, who were on a later train.  Becca is an Australian student here at the University and she is in Anne's class.  Once they arrived, we headed to La Cité, which is the oldest part of Carcassonne.  It was absolutely incredible.  Almost hard to believe it was real. 

Our first view of the city.  It is just absolutely amazing.

The main keep, and a tower on the outer defensive wall.

The moat and outer defensive wall.  The sructre to the far left is the entry bridge into the city.

The main road that goes through the center of town. 

Good luck taking the castle from this side...

The walls are incredibly thick.  I am lying down horizontally, fully stretched out, and neither end of me is reaching the edge of the wall.

No Medieval city would be complete without a Medieval cathedral.  Very cool structure, and clearly displays the many phases of construction the city underwent.

The clouds did give us a nice sunset over the city.  Our hostel is just behind and to the left of where I took this photo.

Table at a cafe.  The story goes: Pepin the Short(scary, right?) was laying siege to the city, because he was unable to penetrate the defenses.  With food supplies dwindling, and surrender imminent, the Lady of Carcas had the city's last pig fattened up and thrown over the walls.  Shocked that they still had so much food, Pepin packed up an left. 

After we walked around the city, we headed into the Lower City for dinner.  We went to Le Ble Noir, which was supposed to be really good.  It turned out to be absolutely incredible.  I had the Magrit de Canard, which is a local specialty, and it was completely fantastic.  For desert, I had a tart made with sliced apples and caramel ice cream on top.  Also really, really wonderful.  Overall, maybe the best meal I have ever eaten.  It was also only 23 Euros, with an appetizer salad as well.

Here's my duck, with sautéed potato slices and a salad.  Just absolutely fantastic.

This tart was amazing. 

The group at dinner(L to R): Becca(AUS), Forrest(SD), Anne(ME), Jamie(OH), Alex(IA), my chair. 

After dinner, we walked back to our hostel and bought a couple of bottles of wine.  We sat and drank wine and ate cheese and talked for a couple of hours.  We talked about culture and politics and all sorts of stuff.  I successfully convinced Becca that Americans are not as bad as they seem.  JK.  She is now certain that we are all idiots.  It was a really great way to finish the night, and a lot of fun.

Carcassonne, lit up in celebration of it being night time.  It is really quite incredible to see in person.