Today's adventure is conquering another castle, but an easier one, so Grandma can come too.
Penny tells the story: "There's a pig story at Carcassonne. Dame Carcas was inside the castle. Outside were the soldiers who were keeping the town under siege so they couldn't get more food or water. So, Dame Carcas fed a pig a lot of food and dropped it off one of the towers. That fooled the Knights into thinking the town had enough food. So the Knights left and the town celebrated by ringing all the bells." (Grandma Lynn said "Sonner" is the French word for "to ring" so the town became known as Carcassonne.)
 |
| The knight in the candy store reminds us of the Carcassonne legend |
The ride isn't long - 45 minutes - but some people were in a hurry to get there. ("Are we there yet?") As we came to the highway exit for Carcassonne, you could see the whole city (la cité) from the car windows. Evie and Penny let out whoops of amazement. Who wouldn't?
 |
| view from the A61 highway |
It wasn't until we got out of the car at the parking lot that we realized we had forgotten the scooter battery. That wasn't how we planned it.
While we picked up the battery, we sent the Richgels family off to storm the castle.
 |
| Listening to their audio guides inside the castle |
 |
| I did it! I did it! I did it! |
 |
| Randy being guided in the castle |
 |
| Katie on the attack on the "lices" (the dry moat between the inner and outer walls) |
 |
| crossing the dry moat to the castle |
 |
| View of our restaurant, Le Créneau (orange umbrellas) from the castle. |
Carcassonne is busier today than the last time we were here. The tourist season has started. We hear a lot Spanish, Italian, some French, and English with British accents. Walking up the main street from the Narbonne gate is a slalom course of avoiding groups of people.
 |
| the square at the top of the main street |
We met the Richgels at our restaurant meeting spot at 1:00.
Most (except Penny) have been wanting to eat cassoulet. Even Evie, who has never tried cassoulet thinks it will be delicious. Penny ordered pizza
 |
| Penny tried the cassoulet, but liked her pizza better. |
and the rest of us ordered the menu - starter, cassoulet, dessert.
Starters were gazpacho for some and onion soup for the others. Evie ate most of her onion soup and her cassoulet to the bottom of the bowl and pronounced it yummy.
One problem for eating in French restaurants is that service takes so long - not out of neglect, but out of respect for diners enjoying their food and conversation. But the girls did well at our 1 1/2 hour lunch.
We visited the shops in the afternoon. Penny chose a medieval dress and crown for part of her birthday present and Evie got a wooden bow and arrows as her grandma souvenir.
A quick stop at the SuperU in Mirepoix. We're out of fruit and milk. You'd think there were hungry kids around. By the time we got home, it was raining, but Penny went out for a swim anyway. The cold doesn't bother her!
Dinner was long aperos with ratatouille....
 |
| Evie's artistic arrangement of some of her aperos |
....followed by Penny's Happy Birthday cake for dessert. When she went with Papa to the bakery this morning, she had chosen this beautiful apricot cake for her dessert. It was delicious, but also very rich. We have cake left for dessert tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment