Post by Ella Yesterday, after arrival and check in, we headed for the Gothic Quarter which abuts a bay on the Balearic Sea. We are staying in the neighborhood Eixample. Straight down our boulevard to La Rambla where we joined mobs headed towards Rambla de Mar. I was unrealistically hoping that the crowds had died…
The BlaBlaBus to Barcelona
Post by Ella Our journey started in the dark, frozen air. It was 1°C which is about 34°F. I’d made a deal with our talkative Tesla Uber driver, Dominique, to give us a ride to our bus stop. At 5:45am, we were trundling our luggage down cobblestone steps to the dirt path that followed the…
Medieval matryoshka
We trooped out the Aude gate of Cité Carcassonne this morning. Then took a steep path down to the walking bridge spanning the Aude River. We were headed towards the Bastide Saint-Louis, a section of the old city settled around 1260 by Cathar citizens expelled from their homes in the fortress where we were currently…
Gargoyles
Post by Ella Carcassonne has the Bastid (old city) and the Cité, the medieval village). We are staying within the ramparts of the Cité but it is an easy walk down off the hill and across an old bridge into the bastid. We spied the Cathedral Saint Michel from the ramparts of the Cité. And…
Taking a poll
Post by Ella Grubb says “hey look, another carousel” “You’re kidding, right?” No, he wasn’t. I say NO. What do you say? And how about this? Reindeer going on a track, like a train? Grubb says yes, I say no.
Another cosy French meal
Post by Ella Dinner last night (Thursday) was cassoulet. It’s a big thing here in Carcassonne. Every restaurant menu has at least one cassoulet on its menu. I might have mentioned before, a cassoulet is a rich, slow cooked stew. A medley of meats (sausage, mutton, pork and goose are the classic combo) and haricot…
Arrival at the castle
We made it to our castle in Carcassonne where we’ll be staying a couple of nights. This will our final chance to go medieval before we take bus to Barcelona. The cobbled paths of the castle were pretty quiet last night. The moon was rising over the battlements. And a big bowl of cassoulet was waiting…
Ah, no, it’s not the Parthenon
The Maison Carré in Nimes is a Roman temple built in 19-16 BC. I had read about it and thought we should stop in Nimes on our way to Carcassonne to take a look. Nimes is not an easy city to negotiate by car. It seemed like there was a roundabout every two meters where we were supposed…
Avignon to Carcassonne with a stop in Nimes
Post by Ella We are now in the old city of Carcassonne , staying in a house within the ramparts. I am working on a glass of red from Carsac. A gift from our host. So I’m relaxed…now. But earlier…. Driving from Avignon to NImes, well, first of all, we had a few misfires getting out…
Sur Le Pont d’Avignon
Only four spans remain of St. Benézet bridge built in the 12th century over the Rhône. Considered a marvel in its time with twenty-two spans, it was a major pilgrimage route in the Middle Ages between Italy and Spain. Damaged by flooding over the centuries, the stone bridge became too expensive to maintain. Now it juts into…
Popping in for a Cézanne
It was starting to rain when we left the abruptly curtailed medieval bridge after visiting the Palace of the Popes. So we quickly angled down a couple of side streets and found the Angladon Museum Jacques-Doucet. Taking up a couple floors of an old chateau, the museum has a collection of art that was acquired by Jacques-Doucet,…
Simone at the Palace of the Popes
For most of the 14th century the Catholic papacy took up residence in Avignon. This all had to do with French king Philip IV getting in a deadly spat with Pope Boniface VIII. While Rome was in bickering chaos, Philip was bent on centralizing the church. The next seven popes made Avignon their base where Benedict VII built…
Does the Pope know?
Post by Ella I’ll just say this about that. Rumbling through the Palais de Papes in Avignon today, there was a surprising art exhibition adding to the decor of the somber early 14th century rooms. This and then that. That and then this.
Only for two nights
Post by Ella Our apartment in Avignon has equaled our place in Nice. A spacious two bedroom, separate kitchen and living room, two full bathrooms. On Rue Victor Hugo no less. We’d arranged to meet host Adrien in front of the building (on Monday) to get the keys and get checked in. A few minutes…
Anubis at the light show
Château des Baux was a monument to carving a fortress out of granite. Down the steps past the village and up the road was the former granite quarry. Now it is an immense cavern with a sandy floor and large stone columns dedicated to themed light shows. As we entered, the underground cathedral of light was immersively…