02.24.2008
Day Eight:
Carcassonne, France

Today, I decided to take a journey to Carcassonne, France. It’s about 86km, or about an hour drive south east of Toulouse. The city is supposed to have some killer history. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it: “Carcassonne is a fortified French town, in the Aude département of which it is the préfecture, in the former province of Languedoc. It is separated into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. The fortress, which was thoroughly restored from 1853 by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997.”

Now doesn’t that sound exciting? I think so. So let’s go!

I hit up google maps for a pretty good idea of where I was going. I managed to get out of Toulouse without any problems, and headed down the highway. I came across this car, that was just dumping all kinds of nasty stuff every time he hit the gas. Gross!

Here are some pics of the French countryside. Pretty nice yea? Not bad. I could have done better had I not had to drive while I was trying to enjoy the countryside. Lol.

Notice the crappy sky there in the pics? It was about 12°C with 30-40mph gusts of wind, it was pretty crazy. It’s a good thing I don’t wear contacts, or I would have been hating life.

So I tried to take a picture of what it looks like when you roll up over the hill and see the walls of the city, but it’s not very clear here, but you get the idea. It’s kinda like when you are driving to Vegas at night, and you get through Jean and around that hill, and then BAM! you get the lights of The Strip and the Luxor in your face and its breathtaking (well it was when you were little at least). That was what it was like when you turn the corner and see the walls of Carcassonne.

I have never seen anything that old in person before. So just so you know, here’s a brief history: The city was first built in the 4^th century and help up even during the siege of 1209. In 1226, the second enclosure was added and then modernized in the 13^th century by the kings of France at the time. It was besieged by many different religious groups over the years, and eventually landed back in France’s hands in the 18^th century. In the 19^th century, the city was restored by Viollet-le-Duc to the condition it is in now.

I didn’t realize it when I got there, but it’s a whole city enclosed in walls. I originally thought it was just a castle, but it’s a whole city. Inside, there are a host of souvenir stores, its almost suffocating, but it’s still amazing. There are all kinds of restaurants, hotels, and art shops throughout the city, as well as a theater and a cathedral. It’s really nuts to think of all of the crazy battles and things that went on so long ago, in exactly the same place you are standing. I really can't get over how old this place is, and all of the history that it has in it.

It’s pretty hard to describe what each picture describes, plus, it’d take forever, so it’s probably easier to just check out the pictures I took on my blackberry:

The views are crazy no? The view from the top of the castle out to the city are amazing.

The cathedral inside the walled city is pretty beautiful too. The stained glass and oldness of the church is pretty cool, i think they still use the church also.

Do you know what time it is?

Crepe time!

I really don't get whats up with the carousels all over the city, but this was outside the city walls.

And here are some far way pics, to try to show how big this place is on the top of this hill in the middle of a semi-modern city. It’s nuts!

After a great day in Carcassonne, I was able to meetup with the guys from New York, Montreal, and Sweden for dinner. Yes, there are Moogs all over the world, and they are all here in Toulouse for this program. The place we went to eat was located in the Carmes district, which is just south of Esquirol, where I was shopping on Saturday. The Swedish guy had his family down from Stockholm, so we went out to a local Brasserie for some good food.

This place we ate, had a fireplace in the center of the restaurant and they cooked everything over the bbq. I had "magret de canard" (breast of duck) with potatoes and a goat cheese salad with some wine. It was great. Duck is pretty close to red meat, but it has a little bit different flavor, and I have to say, I am now a fan.

What's amazing is that at the end of the night, even at 10pm, people were still outside eating. Pretty neat.

Also, since it's hard to post up a ton of pictures here, I have all of the pictures I took on my nice camera in two separate albums, one for each day. So check out the links below for the pics form both days:

Saturday: Toulouse, Fr - Day Seven - Part 2

Sunday: Toulouse, Fr - Day Eight - Part 2

Thanks everyone for the great comments and still taking an interest in my life 6,000 miles away. I miss you guys!

Au revoir for now!