Les Pierres Bleues Bed & Breakfast Mazamet

... was ****in awesome... google it to see what I mean... the craziest part about it is that people still live there...in the city! it is about 3 km around the whole thing, it is super cute inside, there are cafès and shops, a church and many old old buildnig where people still live!
We walked back to the hotel later and relaxed, then we went on a hunt for the grocery store, to our surprise, the "casino" across the highway was the store, Casino is just the name for the super ...

Well after taking our first train and making it to the right destination using our Eurail passes we made it to Carcassonne. We arrived at about 6:30 in the morning and it was pitch black outside and foggy to boot. We decided we'd hang around the train station until the sun came up at least so we knew where we were and where we kind of needed to be. We met some interesting people while waiting at the train station...one guy actually said he loved me after ...

... 1.2m on average. However, the start of the hill was a whopping 18% grade pitch which spells O.U.C.H.!

By far the hardest climb either of us have ever done. Pitch so steep that the front end of the bikes kept lifting of the pavement while we cycled. Not that we cycled much. After 3 weeks out of practice we were both stopping about every 20m or so to catch our breath. Talk about slow progress! Gravity pulling us ...

... her to eat when she returns. We chatted at the table until it was time to figure out where we were off to next. Conrad worked on printing maps for where we were to go in Barcelona while I worked on yesterday's blog entry to upload later.

We left at noon. I think that both of us wished that we could have stayed another day. That has seemed to be the case at ...

... and additional fortifications were added. It was restored meticulously.

I first check into the hostel which is within the castle walls. It affords gorgeous views, has a patio area that is terrific. The inside is pretty generic but what a location, next to 5 star hotels.

I get out just in time to get into the castle itself which is a museum. They do a fairly good job of explaining the purpose of various features (eg, wholes in the floor for dropping ...

... bit disturbing but not something you see every day!

It was a nice relaxing night, we spent about an hour and a half wandering around before grabbing a couple of bottles of wine and settling in down by the river for a couple of drinks and a chat. The Spanish festival was extremely busy and packed and very hot, so we avoided it. There was no avoiding the Spanish music that went most of the night when we eventually went to bed though! I reckon I was flamenco dancing in my sleep!

... axes of fists ... good times!

The whole time all I could think of was A Knights Tale, hence the title.

Nothing much else to report, still loving it here, it truly has the most amazing relaxed vibe, it will be sad to leave but I am looking forward to traveling with Ian and Rachelle.

Not long to go now!

... was a fantastic day.

The area is beautiful and it is so freaking hot it isn't funny (35 in the shade today). I am so glad I came here, I think this tops Torricella.

I am going to try and get in to see the walled city some time this week - they do a jousting match each day which I think would be pretty entertaining.

Woot!

... to visit to take a look at the Abbey. It was mildly interesting. Its maintenance was very obviously only locally funded. There were cement bags on the ground, an excavator under the tree, a couple of students making notes and us. It was old...in parts...but not very attractive. I reckoned it should have been pulled down years ago but don't tell Anne I said that and don't mention the fan. How much of the Abbey was original stonework who ...

... br>
I left not knowing how sincere our fun in the bar had been, but it's no big thing. Maybe I ought to stay away from city girls.

Or get more money.


So, I next tried going out in Mazamet, pop. 50,000.

In the "Cafe de la Paix" (Peace Cafe), I saw a girl I would've made war for. Her thin, naturally bronze body wore a white V-neck t-shirt in the way a superheroine would. Maybe she need Super-Laying-On-The-Beach-Man to come save her? (I had ...