Carcassone

Alan and I have flown away to France for a few days!  Although Alan is retired, he took a summer job, so we are not getting a big summer holiday this year.  Luckily, Ryanair had a great deal and we jumped at it, so did half the population of Ayr!  Apart from travelling with the Guides to Switzerland, I have never been on a plane where I knew so many people!

Mom and I visited Carcassone 33 years ago!  We went on a fabulous bus tour of France.  I was very lucky because Bob could not go and I was able to travel on his ticket.  We visited all kinds of wonderful, off the beaten track, places in France.  One of those was Carcassone.  Which is very photogenic, something Alan is rather partial to!

Memory is such a fragile thing, and can be very frustrating. I really do remember being here and I recognize the skyline.  How could anyone forget that?  But that is all I remember. So it is like being here for the first time myself.

There are two couples here that we know a bit better than anyone else on the flight.  One is Rene and Jim Andrews, who attend the same church and whose granddaughter is one of my Rangers.  We really did not know them very well, but offered them a lift to the airport.  Martin’s girlfriend’s mother and her partner also flew to Carcassone today.  We have seen them a few times and hope to have dinner together while we are here.  

Since we got up at 4am and spent the day walking around Carcassone, plus having to wait for the hotel to open again at 3 so we could get in, we are really tired tonight.  But it has been a great day, wandering and looking at all the beautiful buildings.  We also saw what we thought was an otter, but on closer look, thanks to the wonders of powerful camera lenses, we think it looks more like a beaver, but its tail is wrong.....

In our wandering, we stumbled upon the most beautiful and amazing dried fruit shop. When we were offered a taste of the dried strawberries, we were hooked and then filled a bowl with melon, pineapple, strawberries and cherries.  Then we realized how expensive this was!  For about 6 Euros we got 10 pieces of fruit! 

I also discovered a cookie store, which is beautiful. We got a free sample there, but I controlled myself and did not buy any cookies. (yet)

“When you come to a fork in the road….take it” – Yogi Berra