Carcassonne,
Languedoc-Roussillon,
France
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Our destination in Languedoc was actually a small village east of Carcassonne. As we arrived in town, we were having a difficult time locating our B&B. The streets were painfully narrow and hodge-podge in every which way. We stopped and asked a local for directions and I was very glad that I had read Tune Up Your French before my trip. Otherwise I would have never known the difference between "à droit" and "tout droit" (to the right and straight ahead). As we were manouvering through the streets just barely wide enough for our little car, our hotelier found us and led us to his abode. It is a wonderful little B&B called L'anncienne Boulangerie run by an Irish couple. After we checked in, we strolled the town for a bit (which didn't take long) and retired to the B&B salon where we visited with our Irish hosts and a family from Nottingham.
In the morning, we drove back to Carcassonne. Carcassonne was a walled town that once withstood a seige by Charlemagne. It is terribly touristy and was really crowded by the time we left (at 11am) but as usual, Rick Steves provided us with a great crowd-busting itinerary. We strolled the ramparts and checked out a few of the shops, and headed back to our car for the drive to Provence.
