Château de Versailles, Pérouges et Cité de Carcassonne

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Yes! The title of this post is indeed in French! But that's only fair because here is where I take you on a tour around France. We'll hop cities today. We start off with Château de Versailles in Paris. That was my first weekend getaway in France. What can I say! The gates of the palace are made of gold. The line to get through security check and enter the palace was a mile long. And when I finally did enter the palace, the grandeur had me feeling dizzy. I don't really have words to describe what I saw and I half think I'll let the photos I took do the talking. But before I let you get a peek at the photos I took, let me make an attempt. I walked around the palace. I saw the grand hallways, the huge ballrooms and halls where the king would hold parties and entertain. I saw the Queen's bedchamber. I saw the quarters of the ministers in the King's court. The gardens of the palace was a completely different world from the palace itself. The gardens of the palace are so massive, I'm pretty sure you can't cover all of it on foot. And so I think I've made a decent attempt to describe what I saw. I can happily show you some clicks now.

And then, let's leave Paris behind and head to Pérouges. Pérouges is a small medival village with a population of 75 people. It is so picturesque, film directors in France often use it as a location for shooting their film. And rightly so! You can easily walk around te entire village in a matter of 30 minutes and see for yourself what a pretty sight it is. The village has two gates one on the highest point and one on the lowest end of the village. As you can imagine, these gates played a role in protecting the village from invaders. If you stand at the gate at the highest point of the village, you can see the countryside for miles on end. Easy to imagine how approaching enemies were spotted, right? Pérouges's history isn't the only reason to visit Pérouges. Another reason is la Galette, which is the specialty of this village. It is a traditional sweet tasting pastry invented and made in Pérouges. Pérouges was a trip organized by my univesity. It was a much invaded village in it's time because of it's strategic location. It's located exactly halfway between Lyon and Geneva. Pérouges has a fascinating history and it was the opportunity of a lifetime to be there in person to see and get a feel of their rich history.

Pérouges's history and traditional cuisine may be a delight but there are other places to see. So time to head to Carcassonne! Where is Carcassonne? In southern France. It too is a medival town but bigger than Pérouges. The point of interest in this town is the castle, Cité de Carcassonne. It was built in the medival ages and like any castle, you can imagine that there were points from where you could see the countryside for miles. The town itself is quaint. There is a town square which I visited in the evening. I sat at a cafe at one of the tables placed outside and enjoyed the music being played. It was a merry evening. Carcassonne is a simple town and brought me pure delight. I didn't struggle so much with French because the shopkeepers seemed to know enogh English to get by with someone like me who's French skills were poor to say the least.

I could go on! And I will go on. I have so much more to tell you. If you've enjoyed my blog posts so far, fear not! I will continue to write. But for now I must sign out. Merci pour la lecture et vous souhaite une bonne journée! (Thank you for reading and wish you a good day! I couldn't resist ending this post in French!)

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