Jeannine & Roger's French Cheese Odyssey

Farewell Carcassonne - 29th May

Today is our last full day in Carcassonne; I did have planned a 6km geocaching walk around a lake however the city that first presented us with drizzly weather has now put on another 30 degree sunny day which is not conducive with hiking.
So instead we had a lazy day of eating, shopping and packing. Actually not a lot of shopping as its 50 days since Easter, Whit Monday, so you guessed it, France is having yet another public holiday.

We headed into town for a Formula lunch which is about 18-20 euro for an entrée, main, dessert, wine and bread. Unfortunately in the main town square the options were limited to Spanish Paella, Italian Pizza, American Burgers, Greek salad, French Crêpes or the local heavy Cassoulet.
We opted for just a main of Salmon tartare, fries, salad and a side order of beer from Holland. Lunch was followed by a kilometre walk up to the old city, in the heat, to buy me a souvenir T-shirt.

Essence of France Photo Challenge No.15 - Country Roads Although country roads are more scenic they also have their drawbacks. The photo at the top of page is our car going up the 2.5km road from Collioure to the St Elme Fort; the road wasn’t very well maintained, and didn’t have a lot of supporting retainer walls or passing bays. However if you met a car coming the other way do what the French do, act confident and just put your foot down, the tourist will move.

The next photo is the same problem but in Carcassonne, a campervan trusted its GPS and turned down a very narrow one way street. Of course the French are very understanding, not, they just sit on their horns without any thought to getting out and helping the poor driver navigate.
Carcassonne is made up of many one way narrow streets that allow parking on one side. One of our GPSs copes with this by directing us six kilometres out of town to then come in on the nearest entrance to our street. The other GPS takes us close to our street and then when it realises the one way street goes the wrong direction, just stops, and politely says “you have reached your destination”.

Carcassonne has been a nice place to be based, even if the weather has been up and down. I joined a Facebook group before I came called English Speakers of Carcassonne made up all nationalities who have come to reside or holiday here. Members can give you lots of valuable advice based on their experience, including the best plumber, how to build a swimming pool (check with the Mairie first), and where to dine.
They have weekly drinks for people to come and express their frustration of the French... whoops, I mean converse in English.

I will remember the area for many things but mostly for bringing to life the book I was reading and finished here, 'Citadel' by Kate Mosse. Every surname mentioned in the book was a family name from the area; every street mentioned we visited, as with all the surrounding towns, with the exception of two which we will visit tomorrow. I haven’t found a free library with an English book to swap my novel as yet, so it is now going to further its travels.

Cheese Experience No.38 - Aligot this is a cheesy version of mashed potato; just stir in cream, butter and cheese until it is creamy smooth and the cheese has melted to a gooey and stringy texture. It was a good way to use up the last of our potatoes and cheese before heading off to our next destination.