Last Wednesday we rode the bus for 15 minutes to one of the zones commerciales on the outskirts of Carcassonne. These are the shopping areas with lots of big box stores and parking lots that just won’t fit on the narrow streets in town laid out almost 900 years ago. But what we were in search of would fit (sort of, as you see in the photo) inside our backpacks: bread. Continue reading “Temptations”
June has always been a festive month for us because it’s when Bill’s birthday happens as well as our anniversary. This year is especially significant as someone reaches that certain age to start collecting Social Security benefits and I’ll post later about our plans of how we’ll mark 30 years together. Carcassonne boasts 3 restaurants that have earned Michelin stars for their quality of food and service, 2 of them within easy walking distance, so what better way to enjoy this month’s special events than by visiting those two? Continue reading “Starry, starry nights…and days”
Here’s a picture of a building that we pass by at least twice a day but only recently discovered its real purpose. We figured that it was a mill since it sits just downstream from what used to be the King’s mills and it has an opening at the bottom that lets the water flow through the building. Since a tree is now growing out of that opening, it’s obviously not in operation, but its original sign is still in place and readable: Moteurs des Fontaines de la Cité, 1893. It’s a giant water pump! Continue reading “Water for water”
For three days every week, the main square in Carcassonne is filled with vendors of fresh fruits and vegetables. There are farmers who grow the produce in fields just outside the city alongside business people who buy whatever is in season a few miles away or even further south into Spain and bring it to sell on Place Carnot. It was only appropriate, therefore, that this was the location for last Saturday’s Fraîch’ Attitude Fruits and Vegetables Festival.
Bill’s a curious guy and I mean that nicely. You do have to be careful here in French with some descriptors because your “inquisitive” friend might just be “odd” depending on where you place the noun and adjective. The house we’ve rented has plentiful and almost instant hot water and no apparent place to hide a huge tank or even a compact on-demand gas heater. Bill had been wondering about it since our arrival and finally asked the landlord where it was and her response was to simply point downwards. Ah ha, we have a basement and some place new to explore! Continue reading “What’s down there?”
Carcassonne is certainly not lacking in grand examples of beauty: the tree-lined Canal-du-Midi that allows the Atlantic Ocean to connect with the Mediterranean Sea, the River Aude with its source buried deep within the Pyrenees Mountains, and of course the city’s iconic medieval fortress. Sharing the spotlight with those monumental sites are tiny courtyards, safe havens from the winds of winter and the summer sun, hidden all over the city. I have long wanted to live in a home built around an interior courtyard so that each room could benefit from the sun and breezes. It looks like we just got our chance. Continue reading “Cour or cœur?”
Having grown up on the East coast of the US, I was not unaccustomed to seeing giant sailing boats whenever there would be a summertime festival. It seems that every major harbor from Maine to Florida has a sail-in of some kind every year to showcase these magnificent ships. To keep the tradition alive there are sailing schools in many of those same harbors, including one run by the US Navy, where young women and men train for weeks to rig the sails and navigate these giant vessels through treacherous waters. We live near the Canal du Midi where they do exactly the same thing, minus the sails, of course. Continue reading “Sailing, sailing”
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