Carcassonne and Toulouse …

The weather predictions for Montpellier looked promising; highs in the mid-50’s and sunny. That was before we left. It wasn’t bad when we touched down in Montpellier, but then we started driving away from the coast it got chilly and started to rain a bit. I should have checked the weather predictions for the other areas we were going to, and not just the town where we flew into. I might have brought warmer clothing, as it stood I had a hooded sweatshirt and a light waterproof jacket. I wished I would have brought a sweater too.

We drove to Carcassonne, checked into our rooms, and headed across the river toward the Medieval City.





We were able catch glimpses of it from between buildings…



We crossed a bridge over what used to be a moat…



And we were in…



Carcassonne is a completely walled city; some of which dates back to the 6th century. It was rebuilt in the 19th century, so although some of the walls and foundations are very old, much of it is not. It is still a neat place to stop, and the lower town has some very good cassoulet. Here is another picture that I took a few days later from the highway.



After leaving Carcassonne we drove up to Toulouse, stopping along the way in Castelnaudary for some more cassoulet. Toulouse is a nice town that has some areas that are very well kept up. In the downtown area we saw little or no litter or graffiti. There was the occasional beggar, but nobody was very pushy about it. We walked around Toulouse and took some pictures...







We stopped at a couple of markets, had some grub, and drank some good wine.







And no I did not eat what is in that last picture; although, I will be going to Barcelona in January and there is a place there that specializes in them.

I did get the chance to try a little of someone else’s andouillette. An andouillette is basically a chitterling (intestine) sausage. This was not one of my favorite things.

Click HERE for more pictures on my flickr page.