Pack Your Bags: Carcassonne France


We were eating dinner tonight
and in the middle of my (second) bowl of soup,
a thought appeared in my brain
out of nowhere:

I never blogged about Carcassonne!

I'd been so excited to share 
this hidden gem
tucked in the Southwest of France
with you & the rest of the blogging world...

I edited the pictures,
I put them in a folder on my desktop,
and then...

well, honestly, who knows.

But here it is today!

Better late than never, right?

With a place this special,
the answer is: absolutely.

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It was about 1.5 hours drive
from where we were staying
(remember the crazy-gorgeous-yet-affordable Chateau Les Carrasses?)
to Carcassonne....

On our way towards the Spanish border,
I grew increasingly allured to drive
to Barcelona for dinner.

{Tyler did not, however, or this Carcassonne adventure would have ended here.}




All I knew about Carcassonne before arriving
was that it was a medieval city...
which, to me, meant
it was a city during the medieval times
and not today.

So imagine my surprise when 
we walked through the city gates
and then realized:
it's still an active/real place!









The flavor of the city
(and yes, I believe that cities have distinct flavors)
was undoubtedly French...
with strong Spanish notes.

A crepe stand would sit next 
to a store selling handmade espadrilles...

A cafe sign would have the price
for une biere & una cerveza.








It was one of those days in traveling
when you are left totally refreshed
even after a long day out.






The four of us
(Tyler, Lauren, Viola & our dear friend, Kyla)
wandered through the cobblestone streets,
explored the gorgeously preserved castle overlooking the valley,
and, obviously, ate enormous crepes
stuffed with nutella, coconut & almonds.









I've tried to say it in previous posts,
but I'll say it again:
the southwest of France
is one of the best-kept secrets there is.

Affordable, stunning, rich with history & gorgeous.

It's waiting for you.


*   *   *


More Southwest France posts here
for your drooling pleasure!





19 comments:

  1. It looks like a colorful, happy, charming place. Or that just might be you.

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  2. Gorgeous place and pics! As always, Viola steals the show with her preciousness!

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  3. Pretty! We actually have a "board" game called Carcassonne that my husband likes to play. I know...we are total dweebs.

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  4. Gorgeous pictures! I've never been but I would love to!

    Love from South Africa

    Arum Lilea

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  5. It looks gorgeous! We're starting to think about next years intl vacay and it's so hard to choose: south of France or Amalfi Coast. This looks amazing!!

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  6. Yes! Southwest France! Also try Annecy!

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  7. Viola is gorgeous. :)

    And I really want to go to the South of France.

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  8. I have heard they have gorgeous linens there - thank you for sharing some of your finds!

    XO

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  9. Looks amazing Lauren! Glad Tyler convinced you to drive through... Barcelona can wait ;)

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  10. Carcassonne looks adorable! For some reason, that shoe photograph is my favorite - so fun & colorful!

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  11. I am so charmed right now. So effing charmed.

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  12. So close to my home and yet I have never been... Must put a remedy to that soon!

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  13. this is abbbsolutely magical!! can't believe how well traveled that precious babe of yours already is!!! :)

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  14. I just got engaged and we are strongly considering the south of France for our honeymoon and now I am leaning towards it even more!!!
    Brittany
    www.classicallyb.com

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  15. So pretty! I think I'll have to go here - you are just too good of a salesman! ;)

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  16. Ah it looks so lovely! Gorgeous pics as always!

    M x

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