Carcassonne…

On Tuesday (07/20), we took the train to Carcassonne, which is 55 miles southeast of Toulouse. The countryside along the way was bathed in yellow with the fields of tall sunflowers one after another.  We arrived at the train station in the lower, newer part of town and made our way via a motorized train across the Aude River to the fortified upper town, La Cite.

Upon arrival, we crossed the drawbridge to enter the medieval city, which is said to be the setting for the classic tale “Puss in Boots.” Unfortunately, it has been highly commercialized with restaurants and gift shops nearly everywhere through the main part of town.  Nevertheless, it was neat to see a real life medieval castle with its towers and fortified walls. The Pyrenees could be seen in the distance beyond the exterior walls.  And, of course, our visit there wouldn’t have been complete without seeing the church, Basilica of SS. Nazarius and Celsus. K is becoming quite the aficionado on Roman vs. Gothic architecture thanks to all the churches that we’ve visited. Negotiating the cobblestone has been a challenge for me with my post-fracture anxiety of walking on uneven surfaces, and of course, the medieval city was full of them, as was several other spots that we’ve visited.

View of La Cite

The main castle

View of the Pyrenees

Basilica of SS. Nazarius and Celsus

We wound down our day back in Toulouse with a delicious pasta dinner and a trip to Le Sorbet d’Amour, which boasts 72 flavors of homemade ice cream. Yum.