My Other House is in France: ...Toulouse to Carcassonne...

The second part of our outing was to Toulouse and then on to Carcassonne. Toulouse is France's 4th largest city while Carcassonne dates back to the sixth century. We had programmed out GPS to stay off the toll highways, so we spent the morning driving along smaller country roads winding through hills, valleys and finally sunflower fields. We rolled into Toulouse and found parking and set out on foot to see what we could in a short period of time. We luckily parked near the major square, which was hosting a market day, but the world only needs so many i-phone covers, batik dresses, cheap knock off suit cases and socks. We wandered out of the Place Capitole and towards Place Saint Georges, passing through the major shopping district of Toulouse. We saw the fountains

Vernon and the fountain in the Place Wilson

and carousel of Place Wilson, the parking lot of Place Victor Hugo and our short tour ended at the Basillque Saint Sernin. It was a very quick overview of the centre of the city leaving something to see if we are ever back this way.

A gate in the city wall.

Garden near the Place du Capitole

Sticking to the non-toll roads on our way out of Toulouse found us on a highway that paralleled the expressway, but we weren't in a hurry. Along with more sunflowers, we began to notice the vineyards along the way. As we got closer to Carcassonne, only about 50 kms away, it was like any modern French town. The highway was littered with big box stores, light industry and our cheap hotel. Not something I had in my mind of a town dating back to the Romans. We checked in to the Ibis Budget and were quite surprised with the hotel and the room. Even though the W/C was smaller than an airplane's, and the molded plastic toilet had no seat, the price, the air conditioning, breakfast, wifi, and free parking made up for any slight uncomfortableness.

The main entrance to La Citè.

As for most of this trip, we had done little background reading, so arriving at the La Citè later was a complete surprise. I had imagined the inner city was all part of the paid attraction but we found out the the inner city was the most alive area in town. It is full of restaurants, souvenir shops, squares, hotels, cookie and candy shops and exclusive hotels. It reminded me of Mont Saint Michel of northern France, without the ocean and the mountain. We had almost settled for a small restaurant down outside the walls, but were very glad we waited. Inside the walls we discovered the Taverne Du Château where we found our elusive holy grail, pizza. It was a great introduction to an incredible dinner, and for dessert we wondered around to give us a head start on tomorrow. Within the walled city is the Château and Ramparts, which are surrounded by their own walls, a fortress within a fortress. The main buildings of the keep date back to the 12th century. The ruling family, Trencavel, were getting too powerful, so the Pope called a crusade against them and the city became part of the royal domain in 1226. Until 1659 Carcassonne was used to protect the border between France and Aragon. It feel into disrepair as it was more of a military outpost. In the 19th century, archeologists rediscovered the city and began to restore the city to its medieval appearance today.

Carcassonne's Ramparts with the lower city in the background

Along with touring the buidings of the inner Château, we were able to walk around the outer ramparts to the entire city. The views of the country side as well as the inner city were spectacular. To treat ourselves we had a great lunch at Saint Jean restaurant with croque Monsieurs and beer and more beer. We did notice that we were the only table drinking beer, but it seemed more refreshing than wine on a hot afternoon. Our table was ombragé (in the shade) and it was the perfect way to wind down. Some souvenir shopping and then the 20 minute walk back to our hotel for a well needed break. Our final dinner was back in La Cité where we tried the local specialty, cassoulet. It is like a chilli, with white beans, sausage, pork rind and duck. It was good, and the restaurant we ate had it on their 13 euro menu, so it was a small sample of the dish. The salad and dessert made up for any disappointment of having a bean stew for dinner. At least we got extra bread to soak up the delicious sauce it was served in.

Joan of Arc in Carcassonne lower city

The next morning, we headed into the newer part of the city to take in the splendour of the two churches in the centre of the city that the guides said we should see. The city was pleasant and well worth the short time we spent wandering the streets watching the city wake up. Being Friday, we thought it best to be be back on the road again, giving control to our GPS to take us on the fastest but non-toll highway home. It didn't take us long to realize that this would be an all day event, so we fought back control and headed to the toll expressway to get home before we threw the GPS out the window.

It was a great break and we were able to see just a little bit more of this amazing country. There is something new and exciting around each corner. A great place for a holiday home!

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