Advertisement
Published: August 13th 2010
Edit Blog Post
WEDNESDAY - After a tidy-up of the apartment and a quick hoovering of the last of the food, we bade goodbye to the apartment, Montmartre and Paris. Walked down the hill to the tube with the bags, mine has now expanded to include the LeSportsac, and over to Gare Montparnasse to catch the train to Toulouse. We bought sandwiches at the station which were huge. On to the train, luckily we got on early enough to get space for the bags. After settling in, the sandwiches were pulled out. Note to Self: Carry small jar of Dijonaise in purse at all times!
We got off the train in Toulouse and picked up the car. Kevin had bought a GPS in England so I had no maps. Refer to Kevin’s blog, or email me directly if you want the REAL story…We were due for dinner at our house swap at 7:00 but managed to roll in at 8:30. Luckily it was easy fresh salmon, salad and fruit for dessert. Oh, and chevre (goat cheese) with honey. A new dessert treat! The house is great. During the revolution the chateau that stood here was torn down and houses for the masses were
The bag-man
Tis I, Le Clerc, disguised as a luggage porter! erected so….we are staying in an 18th Century State House! Off to bed to meet up with Wendy and Ed.
THURSDAY - Over to Caunes Minervois where Ed and Wendy are ensconced, for lunch with them and their swaps, whom we had met in Russell. A great couple, American - English. Then the gruesome foursome took off to Minerve, a Cathar stronghold from the 13th Century. Wendy and I practiced the fine art of shopping, and found some great pottery and linens. We didn’t buy anything. THAT is the fine art of shopping. Kevin thinks that every time one enters a shop one has to buy something. We are trying to reprogram him.
Minerve is where the Evil, EVIL Simon de Montfort gave the Cathars an ultimatum to surrender or die, so they opted to die.
Dinner that evening was in a café in Ollenzac and was reasonable for the price. There was a general communication breakdown so things took quite a bit longer than necessary and we were a bit toe-y by the time it was all over.
FRIDAY - Up early to Ed and Wendy’s for pain au chocolat (that’s ”pan”, not PAIN) and
My chicken in Ollenzac
Nice brochette, but a little underdone.... baguettes before heading off to Carcassonne. This is the oldest, continuously inhabited walled city in Europe, dating back to Gallic-Roman times, although the city in its current form dates back to the 13th Century and was restored in the 19th century. There are TONS of people here, many more so than when we were here 10 years ago. At least it seems that way. After a look into windows at items that are doubly-priced because of location, we stop for lunch at a charming restaurant off the square in a little garden. Wendy and I decide the best way to approach the eating dilemma is to have a big meal at lunch with a salad for dinner, and immediately embark on this agenda, having lovely starters, main courses and desserts. The boys do the same though they aren’t under the constraints we are. It is a lovely meal, and we finish up just before we need to pick up our friends Sue and Steve Western at the train station.
For dinner we located a restaurant not far from the house, in Beaufort, called Auberge de St-Martin, set in a lovely garden. It is also a hotel. They had a
number of set-price menus and Wendy and I were eying the 28 Euro menus. Hold it, what happened to the salads for dinner? Well, THAT fell by the wayside, didn’t it? Tomorrow……
(sorry about the doubling up of entries but I have really limited access to the net here in Carcassonne. This could be it until I get to the states....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.567s; Tpl: 0.058s; cc: 10; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0682s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb