We encounter a lot of people on a daily basis essentially because we walk around town quite a bit. Since we don’t have a car, anything that’s close enough to go there by foot, we do. Today we needed to replenish our supply of local sparkling wines because we had served a few glasses…ah, bottles…to some lovely ladies from Liverpool, England last week. And just how did that happen?

When you live in a city that boasts two UNESCO world heritage sites, you’re bound to be surrounded by international visitors. Since Carcassonne isn’t all that far from the Spanish border, lots of the tourists come from there. With Italy being the next country to our east we see many car license plates with the letter “I” and Germans have always been travelers which explains their great presence here. Ever since arriving we’ve noticed an increasing number of Chinese as well. With all of those languages swirling around us it’s probably no surprise that our ears perk up when we recognize a conversation in English, almost always with a British accent.

That’s what happened Saturday on our way back from the market. With our backpacks laden with bright tomatoes, fresh oranges, vegetables for that night’s stir fry, and an ever-present baguette for Happy Hour, we were about a block from home when we noticed 4 women obviously wondering which way to go. In a flash Bill was talking to them and guiding them to the “hidden” passage near our house that gets you up to the castle on a slanted path that doesn’t have any steps. When we’re in another country we always take any opportunity given to see inside someone’s home so that we can “find out how the locals live” and now we had that option with these English women.

After the very quick house tour we broke out the bubbly and spent a delightful afternoon talking about Europe, the US, and everything in-between.Two days later we found the postcard you see above in our mailbox. Cheers, Liverpool ladies!