Carcassonne

As the nymph of Pau bid us farewell this morning, we made our way in the shadow of the Pyrenees to Carcassonne, medieval city of the Cathars. Like we needed to come here for probably our 7th or 8th time! This is Disneyland South - so perfect it should be Disney and yet it isn't.

We thought we had chosen a hotel, the Aragon, with good proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. As it turned out, the location was not shabby.

We snapped the obligatory photos and then we took a walk about before settling down for lunch at l'Escargot. Anyone want to guess what I had for lunch?

Then it was off for a walk to find our restaurant we had reserved for dinner and maybe some more photos.

It was fun to see school children on an excursion and wonder how they felt about this place with so much history, much of it not very good. As a quick reminder about how the Catholic Church felt about the Cathars, they slaughtered just about every one of them, man, woman and child, possibly as many as one million.

Dinner, after yet more unnecessary photos - to follow - was at Comte Roger.

Our dinner was a 42 E prix fixe of which I am saving the photos - but it was a great meal. Dawn had a fish flan, cassoulet and chocolate mountain while I had foie gras - surprise - veal and a deconstructed creme brûlée. Two thumbs up!! Then, for the first time in our Carcassonne visits, I got some night photos.

This continues to be a very special place!