Bonjour Again.
I did a little research before starting this email. Here’s a little tidbit for you. France, while being the third largest country in Europe, is still only half the size of Ontario. I’m saying that because when you have driven through as much as Joani and I have the last 10 days, it seems much larger. We talk sometimes about whether we are trying to see too much too fast, but we have so many more destinations on our bucket list that it seems unlikely we will be back to France, so we prioritize the things we really want to see, rent a vehicle, and go on these extended road trips. We try to see all the things that are important to both of us, and with our own mode of transport, we don’t have to see travel companies’ suggestions that we don’t want to see. Besides I will tell you that I honestly get a great kick out of being able to say that I have driven around Spain, Portugal, and now France. It adds to my trip.
With that in mind, we left Aix-en-Provence yesterday morning headed for Toulouse. We had one stop planned, but it was a doozy! Carcassonne. Again, I will cheat and use the description that I lifted directly out of Wikipedia, below.
I love that word Medieval. When you look at the photos you’ll see what I mean. This city was first settled by the Romans more than 2000 years ago and has changed hands many times since but it is soooooooooo cool.
Well wait; let me clarify one thing in case you visit. The interior of this extremely large, walled, fortified city has been turned into a giant tourist trap with shops, cafes, clothes stores and artisan shops. But if you walk around outside or manage to find a place inside where the tourists haven’t congregated in mass numbers, all you have to do is close your eyes and imagine yourself being transported way back in time to the days of knights and damsels, squires and maidens. I see myself as a storyteller along the lines of Homer or Chaucer. But you can be a lord or a lady, knight or maiden. Whatever tickles your fancy. It all comes to life when you’re in this citadel. See the photos below and use your imagination.
We spent half a day at Carcassonne and then drove on to Toulouse, which I will get into later. By the time we got to our hotel it was late so we just ate some supper and took a short walk on one of the main scenic streets and then turned in.
Today we got up, had breakfast and drove to another medieval (there’s that word again) town “Albi”. Albi is another of those “UNESCO” heritage sights and it has another one of those “boring” impressionist museums that I love spending time in. This one was centered around “Toulouse-Lautrec”.
Albi itself, was a beautiful town with more great buildings, tiny streets and beautiful gardens.
This afternoon after we got back from that visit, we spent 3 or 4 hours getting lost in the old section of Toulouse. Another beautiful city, (I’m running out of adjectives) full of fountains, statues and tiny winding streets.
I will be honest, and I hope I speak for Joani here. (She proofreads these emails before I send them.) I find that most times these cities are just the resting point for us and it is the smaller towns that we find the most fascinating in our travels.
On to Bordeaux tomorrow. Another drive, and we will be stopping for lunch at another very cool place,”Rocamadour”. I’m not going to say anything about it now as I will wait until I see it but I believe it will be sooooooooo cool.
Garry
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