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.

*      *     * 

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!

Chateau Les Carrasses | Baby's First Swim