Steph's update

I would recommend a visit to Lagrasse, a couple of days or a week, it's easy to get into the rhythm of the place. A week was great, time for long walks but also time to sit and ponder, eat good food and relax. Lazy nature lovers got to sit on the terrace and watch trout and even a small otter going about its business in and out of the water and through the reeds. We watched tourists wander along the other bank.
A group of about twenty older (even older than us) cyclists, clad in lycra (some not very cyclists shaped!) pedalled through town one day, stopped for lunch and pedalled on, I was most impressed.
Our hosts and the people staying upstairs were great company for a couple of nights of  sitting on the terrace and sharing a story or two over wine and snacks, watching the sun go down.
Yesterday we moved on. Our little car (and its driver) took to the motorway with glee. No more slow, winding roads or narrow village streets to negotiate, or signposts to check, or cyclists or avoid. Just straight double lanes. We managed a steady pace of about 115 to 120 kilometres an hour which was much too slow for just about every other vehicle but we did manage to overtake a truck and a caravan and duck back in before another car zoomed by. Getting back to the airport and leaving the car turned out to be easy.
View out our window.

Yesterday's rain and loud storm last night cleared to a beautiful day so we headed up to La Cité Médiéval. We are glad this wasn't the first castle we visited because it made all the others look rather ordinary. It started as a Roman fort, was built onto in Medieval times and Carcassonne academics (see, they do come in handy) had the foresight to organise a restoration of it in the 19th century. This took 50 years.

We were impressed - the awe factor is relative to the number of photos we take - and we seemed to take heaps but promise not to bore everyone with them. I wonder who will have the insight to save our heritage, surely we must have somethings that will inspire people in 800 years time.
We walked back down through the city, had a cool drink, climbed those 3 flights of stairs and are now sitting deciding what we will do for dinner. Perhaps a meal out and an early night.

Last days of Lagrasse

Today we left Lagrasse to drive back to Carcassonne. To finish our stay in Lagrasse, over the last few days, we did the reverse walk over Charlemagne's bottom (don't ask; I don't know) and got some good photos of the town from up above. We had our hosts, Michael and Nicole, down for drinks and ate and drank so much we didn't bother with dinner. We spied a small black otter in the river - probably chasing some of the small trout we've also seen in there.
Stephanie has done a little more retail therapy and we went out for lunch (La Petite Maison) and dinner (Les Trois Grâces); both delicious.
We got ourselves onto the autoroute today to get through Carcassonne to the airport where we had to drop off the car. With Stephanie navigating, it was a breeze; got the airport shuttle bus into the city, then a two minute walk to the apartment.
We've already been for a short walk - mainly to find a supermarket - through the maze of ancient streets while trying to stay out of the misty rain.
The apartment has been recently been renovated but is unfortunately up three flights of stairs. The view out the window of the fortified city almost makes up for that, although currently obscured by the rain.
Will probably have an early night tonight as we had a 6:30 start this morning - had to get up to listen to the ABC radio feed of the AFL grant final. Gotta love those Hawks!

Sentier Sculpturel

Followed our hosts' advice and drove to the tiny village of Meyronne, about ten minutes from Legrasse. We parked the car and took off into the hills keeping an eye out for the many "Sentier Sculpturel" (sculpture trail) signs along the way as well as the embedded mosaics showing the direction.

"Blue String River"

The trail was very steep in parts, sometimes narrow, other times vehicle width. In one part we had to climb a step ladder to get over a new electrified fence around a vineyard and then back over 200 metres later. It was a fine way to get lost in the hills for a couple of hours. The only other living things we saw were insects - mostly flies and small grasshoppers.

There were many stops to admire the varied, unusual and dramatic sculptures installed in some very inaccessible places.

Here is a selection.

Catching up

Yesterday, after our walk we visited the Abbaye Sainte Marie de Legrasse. This Benedictine Abbey had its origins in the 7th century. Part of it is owned by the community (that's the part we visited a few days ago) and the section today is still used by the order. Extensive renovations and restorations have been carried out in the last 5 years. Some of it is open to the public and there was a short video that showed the working lives of the monks; early to rise, much prayer, learning and contemplation and seemingly very little talking. Not sure I'd make the cut but it is a quiet, serene place to wander about.

They have a wonderful garden restored to its original medieval style - woven cane sided beds with vegetables, herbs and flowering plants. Sitting here and looking back across to the town and the old wall gives a real sense of times passed.

Today we made a trip to a larger supermarket. Lagrasse has an épicerie, a small general store, that has kept us going for the last couple of days - open in the morning, closed for a few hours in the middle of the day and reopens late in the afternoon, but closed on Monday. Have to love the French way of doing things.
Our little car chugged up the hills out of town and the along a wide valley floor with many vineyards and olive groves and the occasional very old and gnarled olive tree. We drove through small narrow-road villages and towns, all with their share of cafes and restaurants and the compulsory outdoor eating area to watch the world pass by.
The roads were mostly straight and like the country roads we have at home. There are no double lines just arrows pointing back to your side of the road. I think they mean get back over now because you are scaring the pants off the tourists who are toddling along towards you.
We got our weekly supplies (somehow even supermarket shopping is more interesting). We included a couple of bottles of wine, just because you can. All supermarkets have a wine selection and this one had an extensive range but we couldn't be sure which ones were local.

We have decided our special, super power is to head out for somewhere, get completely lost, take an interesting scenic drive and yet still manage to end up where we wanted to be. This explains our longer trip back. We're not complaining as we get to see more of the country this way and our small car (that makes us feels a tiny bit like Stuart Little) uses hardly any fuel.
Met for drinks with our upstairs neighbours, enjoyed the company and the rather late dinner, hence the slow start today. It is drizzling and overcast. The weatherman says it will fine up by this afternoon, so we may get in our planned walk.

Lagrasse

Toured the local medieval Abbey. It's a 12th century construction, amazingly well preserved in parts. You could really imagine life functioning within its walls.

This translates as "all things yummy!"

Went to a Bach recital in the local church yesterday afternoon. Baroque music in a unique setting.

Went for a  walk today, okay for you usual trekkers perhaps it was a mere stroll. We started across the bridge and up a relatively step climb. After this half hour slog we reached a plateau overlooking vineyards and olive groves, tree covered hills and the Pyrenees - very French and very beautiful.

Yes it was quite steep in parts.

We really did climb up a long way.

Some pictures of the local flora - or an excuse to have a rest.

"We lugged all these rocks up here and had to think of something to do with the leftovers."

Chris assured me that the bears they were reintroducing (he read this in a novel!) were in the Pyrenees those slight blue smudges in the distance so it really was safe to forge ahead.

Chris collecting some wild rosemary to add to dinner.

The coming down track was much easier than the going up path we took, that's why the people we met were all going in the opposite direction!
Surely a walk = 1 pastry or some cheese, baguette and a glass (or 2) of wine
or all of the above.

The long and winding road ...

Quillan seems to be a seasonal town, water activities, music festivals and holiday makers in summer and skiing close by in winter. At the moment it is just a quiet French town with locals and a surprisingly big population of English expats. We have had a couple of laid back, lazy days of reading, strolls and the odd coffee or wine at the brasserie across the road but we have also managed excursions to local chateaux and landmarks. We've driven along winding mountain roads. We won't pass a slow car but french drivers don't have trouble passing us and the slow car in front. It does cause the occasional gasp.
We haven't done any serious walking, having been put of by the trekkers we see striding through town. They forge ahead with boots that take no prisoners, walking sticks and backpacks. I think the walks aren't for the faint hearted or relatively unfit. The walkers scare me, imagine what the track must be like. Anyway that's my excuse.
Have met our lovely, upstairs  neighbour who actually owns the only Citroën 2CV (my favourite car) in the village - we bonded instantly. We even had taken a picture of me lurking near it. They are not made anymore but she showed us a catalogue from which you can buy every nut, bolt, screw, part, panel and windscreen wiper. I always thought it was a meccano car. I think I'll start buying bits and build my own! We convinced her to come out for a meal with us on Friday night to a pizzeria she recommended. Delicious!

Friday was a slow start with overcast, cold weather so we stayed inside for the very important streaming of the ABC broadcast of the Hawks V Geelong prelim final. Thankfully, a Hawks win.
We then headed out on the road to the small village of Puivert. The road out of Quillan was pretty steep and winding but eventually opened out onto a lush plateau growing sunflowers, grapes and many other crops.

There is a Cathar castle up a precarious track above the town. The owners have restored parts of the castle and inside the walls is a grassed area that looks like it's used for medieval fairs.

Today our little car huffed and puffed its way over some rather steep and winding roads. These roads seem to be favoured by motor bike riders and the odd ( meaning you must be mad) cyclist. The scenery was amazing, I got to watch, Chris got to keep his eyes firmly on the road. As we got closer to the small village of Lagrasse we passed many vineyards so we're looking forward to tasting some of the local wine. Old covered marked near our front door:

We managed to find our way to our very charming  apartment that is right by the river. The place is quiet and rather beautiful. The village with its narrow streets, old stone buildings and church (with the compulsory bell that chimes the hour) will be fun to explore over the next few days. Here's Steph in the lounge room.

Note: No mention of the Swans.

Market day in Quillan

We stayed around town today to enjoy the ambiance of a nice sunny day and to wander around the market set up in Place de la Republique. (I think there's a Place de la Republique in every town and village in France.) The range of foodstuffs available wasn't as extensive as in Carcassonne but that's  a much larger town.
We picked up some fruit and vegies (very fresh) as well as some fried rice from the only Asian stall holder.
There was a smaller section to the market in another nearby square where second-hand and cheap clothes and various other stuff was on sale - a bit like the car boot market in Lismore. Steph was tempted to buy one of the old granny-style pinafores on sale - très Francais.
Back to our local brasserie (Le Palace) for a sit in the sun and a coffee. Lunch was a very fresh salad Lyonaise.
After the market packed up we went for another walk around town and discovered some kayakers in the fast flowing river practising their skills. It's a fairly popular pastime around here as are fishing and cycling. 

As we wandered back past the boulodrome, we noticed that there were some games in session. We stood, watched and took some photos of the very skilled players. We weren't invited to join in but we did engage one local in some laboured conversation (my fault). He talked about the local liking for Rugby but he prefers Rugby League. He referred to them as the 15 game and the 13 game. We tried to explain Australia's four football codes including Australian Football (go Hawks!!). 

We eventually got back to Le Palace for quiet wine before dinner.


Chris

Hats & Dinosaurs - you'd better believe it!

Woke to the sound of more rain. Dammit! It eased through the morning and gave us a chance to go out and walk around the town a bit. First wanted to mention the church of Our Lady (yes, another Notre Dame). It's unusual feature is its clock tower - which chimes every hour. Inside it is quite noteworthy with its main altar, six side altars or chapels and an impressive pipe organ.

Up near the railway station we discovered the local boulodrome (deserted, of course) where the locals play boules - also called pétanque. We've noticed these boulodromes in some of the other towns too.

After lunch we got in the car again and headed north to Espéraza, a town that boasts two unusual museums. The first is a dinosaur museum, the largest in France as this area is renowned for its discovery of a huge number dinosaur fossils. Their display is over 2000 sq m and features full sized skeletons of a tyrannosaur, a stegosaur, a 10 metre wide pterodactyl and many others. The whole display was very informative and would be a boon for the local school children as there is a big educational part to the museum too.

The other museum was attached; did you know that Espéraza was the site of the second largest hat making factory in Europe? Hence, the Musèe de la Chapellerie with displays of felt making and hat making - and here we were thinking it was an homage to a great Australian cricketing family. I'm sorry but we only lasted about three minutes (yawn).
Finished the day with a cleansing Perrier water (Steph) and local vin rouge (me) at the brasserie around the corner.

L'Aude Pays Cathare

Sunday in Quillan was wet, cold and miserable but with a promise of improvement. We stayed indoors most of the day reading the Sydney Morning Herald and doing its crossword on our iPad. (Oh, the wonders of technology!) We did a bit of research so we had something interesting to do for Monday. Some of the restaurants and bars close on Sundays so we made do with an omelette filled with lots of vegies - we'd been missing them. Our apartment is just over the bridge in a little street behind the pink building.

Today, Monday, we headed out in our little Peugeot 107 to visit two sites near the little town of Couiza. The first was Rennes-le-Chateau. For those of you who have read Dan Brown's The da Vinci Code or a book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you may then have heard of l'abbé Berenger Saunière.
He somehow came across a large amount of money that allowed him to renovate the local church, as well as a substantial residence for himself after excavating sections of the old church. It was all a big mystery/scandal at the time (late 19th early 20th century) but he has left the legacy of a renovated church, presbytery, villa and garden for the town to now use as a lucrative tourist attraction. This is all linked back to the supposed continued lineage of JC and Mary Magdeline. I'll leave you to make up tour own minds.

The winding, narrow road took us back to Couiza and out along the valley to the small village of Arque. Here is located the Donjon d'Arque, one of the many Cathar castles in this region - all in ruins; mainly because of their opposition to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
This castle has a small, and very underworked, bookshop attached to it, and the building itself is a good example of the Middle Ages type of stronghold. There is a central keep with four levels and the ever-present helical stairway connecting them. The keep is surrounded by an outer wall with two attached towers.

Our return necessitated a stop at the local brasserie for a quick coffee/beer/mineral water. Here we ran into a group of about seven motor-cycle riding couples (mostly Canadians, but some Aussies too) making their way around Europe on large BMW touring bikes with a guide. What a way to go!!!

Au revoir Paris

We left a damp and cold Paris on Friday morning to catch the train from Gare d'Austerlitz and spend about 8 hours travelling to Carcassonne. Was a good time to catch up on some reading and a bit of research. Carcassonne was much warmer and sunnier when we arrived and after checking into the hotel, wandered around before dinner. Even saw a boat going through the lock on the canal.

The hotel we stayed at in Carcassonne was the 'Hotel Bristol' reminded me of one of those genteel but slightly run down British old folks homes. Some guests even wore socks and sandals. I think we were the youngest residents. Okay for one night but I wouldn't want to live there. It was just across the road from the canal so we had a short walk along the towpath and it was lovely. Old fashioned and new canal boats lining the banks, people strolling and energetic cyclists obviously on weekend trips shared the path.

We head back there for a couple of days before we go to Barcelona so we plan to visit the old city. Thought a bike ride along the canal might be a good idea but with the way I wobble along I'd probably end up in the water, perhaps a leisurely stroll or a boat ride might be better.
We spent the night in Carcassonne and drove, well Chris drove and I supervised (very well  I must say). He didn't miss one roundabout and didn't stray to the wrong side of the road once. It was a lovely drive down to a small village called Quillan. We had no trouble following the directions and Chris even stopped the car in the very narrow street, unloaded and then reversed back the one way street and across the little stone bridge (very French driving indeed).

While in Carcassonne we roamed around the local market. Fruit and veg seem so cheap and everything we've bought (fruit, pastries, cheese, foie gras) at any market has been wonderful. Today we grabbed some large, juicy nectarines. Not sure about the oysters though - huge trays and nothing to keep them cold. Maybe they sell quickly. We're looking forward to the local market here on Wednesday.
Have explored Quillan a bit this afternoon. Tiny, narrow streets and timbered, shuttered windows in stone houses, hanging baskets of bright flowers and a fast flowing river with old stone bridges.  We are down near the Pyrenees and hope to do a couple of walks in the surrounding hills.  Locals call them that, I'd call them mountains.

Last day in Paris

Actually had a sleep in today until 8.30 before I headed for the boulangerie to get croissants for breakfast and baguettes for our lunches. When we did head out we had to get new metro tickets as our 6 day Paris pass had run out.
We exited the metro at St Michel and wandered through some tiny alleyways to Boulevard Saint Michel to find La musée de la Moyen Age (Museum of the Middle Ages) also known as la Musée Cluny - but didn't see George anywhere.
This museum is now Stephanie's favourite and, even thought the "lady and the unicorn" tapestries were being repaired and not on display, there were certainly plenty of really interesting artefacts to view. Most were of a religious nature, and many statues had heads broken off (during the revolution, perhaps?). But the intricacies of the stone and ivory carvings and the gold and silver objects were truly fantastic. We ran into the inevitable school excursion inside and had a chat to a student teacher while the class teacher gave instruction to the group.
 Exited into an ancient courtyard where we rested and took a few photos.

Wandered back to the metro, back to Pont de l'Alma (our local stop) and ate our lunch on the banks of the Seine watching les bateaux mouches on the river and the joggers taking their lunchtime exercise along the riverside. We joined in (at walking pace) heading east along the quai under some of the beautiful Parisian bridges.

We'll treat ourselves to a nice dinner at the local bar tonight, before doing a clean-up and packing.
Big day tomorrow.  

Paris parking (Part 2)

It seems they do mind where you park after all. These guys out in force this afternoon. No Gallic shrugs this time.