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!
