Today we had decided to go to Carcassonne, the #1 castle to visit according to my research and confirmed by the couple we met at the restaurant who have been coming to this area every summer for several years. On the way to the castle, we stopped at a pharmacy and showed Andrew's throat to the pharmacist. In Europe, it's possible sometimes for the pharmacist to give you some prescription medicine at their discretion. Unfortunately, this pharmacist wouldn't, but said there was a doctor just 3 min up the road. There was an appointment in an hour, so Paul dropped John, the girls and I off at the castle and returned to the doctor with Andrew.
The castle was beautiful and impressive.
The first thing we saw were horse and buggy tours. I thought we'd all be interested in that, and then realized it would probably be in French! We still might enjoy it - I'd wait for Paul and Andrew to return to discuss it with them. Next the girls spotted a beautiful carousel, that had 2 levels! If you look closely at the picture (or click once to enlarge it), you can see an upper deck. It did look wonderful, but we hadn't yet entered the castle and who knew what all awaited us there, so I held the kids back again.
This man was outside of the castle entrance, already making us feel that we had stepped back in time a little.
I don't think this was the entrance, but it looks like it could be. The girls are "jousting" on the bridge.
We crossed the bridge and were SHOCKED at the inside - there were tons and tons of shops all up and down the streets! Paul doesn't mind my shopping, but he likes to keep busy, and shopping is not his idea of keeping busy. I probably had an hour to browse at the French shops! We went about 1/2 way up the main street, turned onto one of the side streets, and quickly started to realize that there weren't just a few streets of shopping. There were restaurants, speciality shops, snack shops and I was completely floored when we passed a gorgeous looking medieval Best Western hotel! It turns out that Carcassonne was an ENTIRE medieval city!!! The side streets looked like this.
Some of the less crowded streets looked like this.
Mostly we walked around streets looking like this.
The whole place was SO NEAT! I had no idea a castle would be like this!
The girls and I had the BEST time walking around and finding some promising stores, and John was great in his stroller. About 90 min later Paul called. He and Andrew were at the entrance! I told him to STAY PUT! I said, "Paul, this place is AMAZING! It's HUGE! We'll never find each other, so STAY THERE, and we'll come to meet you."
10 min later I called him again and said, "OK, we're lost. I don't have any idea how to get back to the entrance. Meet us at the Best Western hotel. I think that's the most easily identifiable place to meet." I knew that it would take Paul about 2 min to size up the place and find his way around. Believe it or not, he and Andrew were at the Best Western before we were, and we had just passed it about 10 min ago. The man's direction instincts are astounding.
We ate in one of the cool restaurants, bought some of the things I'd spotted during our exploring, and got souvenirs for the kids. Then we walked out of the city (it was walled in) and explored the outside. It was just as amazing as the inside!
It was HUGE! We had a FANTASTIC time walking/climbing all around it, and disappearing into nooks and crannies, and walking along the edge of walls.
My legs were pretty rubbery when I saw Paul and the boys on this ledge. It was kind of a long drop to the bottom, and who knows what John would do!
The girls frequently walked ahead, chatting up a breeze. It's fun to have a sister!
"Hi, Mommy! I love exploring!"
Look at the turrets, and note the contrast between the size of us and the size of the castle!
We walked up and looked over. Check out the height of this place!
I think this is a funny picture. What happened to Andrew? Oh, he's looking up the structure on the side of the wall!
We were really having a wonderful time exploring and there was more to do, but the skies were getting ominously dark. Reluctantly we headed back inside the city (numerous exits/entrances around the walls of the city) and we did our best to find Megan a wallet that she really wanted as her souvenir. While she was hemming and hawing, Paul and the other kids were relaxing around this fountain when a band started to play. Megan joined them (wallet found). Paul and the kids had front row seats!
Suddenly the skies opened up and it POURED. We headed for the exit with the idea of taking the horse and buggy around the castle. It takes 20 min and we would have enjoyed seeing the whole place - and it should be fairly dry inside the buggy.
Sadly, the horse and buggy were quickly closing up shop. Not very British of them! The rain isn't a deterrant to ANYTHING in Britain!
People were putting up umbrellas, but we didn't have any with us. It was supposed to be hot and sunny every day in France! We made a run for the parking lot, but we got soaked! Look at the kids!
This is me. I was holding John for awhile and you can see where he was on me.
The girls, Andrew and I took shelter in the parking lot bathroom while Paul unloaded the stroller and John into the car. He and John showed up to get us - Paul without his shirt on, and John with JUST his underwear on! Fortunately it was warm and made a fun memory.
As for Andrew, our health cards worked great! When you travel between European countries, you take you English health card with you. When you get sick, you show it and they have you pay outright. When you get back to Britain, you send in your receipt and the government reimburses you in full. Doctor's visits are cheaper here. I think Andrew's visit was around $35 or $40. The doctor was sure it was strep throat, but the test was negative. She gave us a prescription anyway and told us to fill it in a couple of days if he wasn't better. 2 days later the white in his throat was gone and he was cured. Must have been the warmth and sun that cured him! Oh, what a day to remember!
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