The day after Keith left, we packed up camp and drove on to Narbonne. We had been planning on cycling some of the coastal routes nearby but it turned out instead that we were going to spend the next four days trying to get over a cough & cold while we hunkered down in the van out of the wind. Even if we hadn't been sick, it wouldn’t have been pleasant weather for riding in -5 degrees (real feel was around -12) with winds gusting up to 40-50 km/h. We instead took the few days to relax, stay warm and get the oil change done on our vehicle – we had driven 16,000 km already! It was during our trip into town for an oil change that I lost my flip-flop. And when we drove back to the parking lot to look for it, it was nowhere to be found – my guess is that it had blown away in the strong winds. Thankfully, Keith had left his pair behind just in case but I hadn’t imagined to be using it so soon. And thus the flip-flop saga ends. We stayed in the warmth of the van with the heater cranked and drank several cups of tea each day, sweetened with plenty of honey. We worked on the blog, did some sketching and lots of reading. The campsite was a nice one except that the washroom wasn’t heated and part of it was exposed to the elements. Needless to say, at sub-zero temperatures, we came out colder after a hot shower than upon entering. We also had to do laundry at one point and after having left it to dry on the line for a few hours (we figured the strong winds would help it dry quickly), we literally had to pry it off as it had frozen solid. It’s a good thing we had the heater running so much those days because it doubled to dry our laundry. The winds finally started to calm down after a few days and we were ready to move on. Our cycling plans were thwarted but we were feeling marginally better. We also wanted to get out of the cold winds and we hoped that our next set of washroom facilities wouldn’t be so naturally air-conditioned.  

 We woke up to a clear, but cold morning on the outskirts of Carcassonne. The camping of our choice by the old city was still closed for the winter season so we settled for the only other one in the area, about 8 kilometers south. We got off to a late start since we still weren't feeling well and the sanitaires were a bit too naturally air-conditioned (read: not heated and no doors to the washroom block!) for daily showers at near zero temperatures. We got nice views of La Cité (the medieval, fortified town of Carcassonne) as we drove towards it and were glad that we had decided to stop for a visit. We parked just outside the Narbonnaise gate and began out self-guided walking tour of the town which took us past all the sights that we had seen on our last visit to this wonderfully preserved fortified city back in 2008. The gate crosses a moat (which was never filled and as our guidebook told us disappointingly, didn’t have crocodiles either!) which serves as a parking lot today. The drawbridge was built crookedly to slow down attackers which we thought was pretty clever. We took a left-turn soon almost immediately upon passing the first wall (there are three sets of walls in this town, with the main chateau behind the innermost ones) to walk a portion of the ramparts. A boulevard about ten meters wide separates the outer and inner walls and when you look at the inner walls, you notice in certain places that rocks are mixed with narrow stripes of red bricks, remnants of the original wall built by the Romans. The outer walls that we were walking were not built till the 1300s but the inner walls were built more than a thousand years before that by the Romans. The outer walls are nearly two miles long and have fifty-two defensive towers, built to protect an important site on N-S and E-W trading routes. We really had to watch our step on the ramparts as they are quite high, without guardrails (thankfully the French are not afraid of being sued) and with it only being a couple degrees out, plenty of slick patches of ice.

We made it safely off the ramparts and decided to not walk the entire length since we were getting pretty chilled. We passed through a gate in the inner wall and into the main city itself. It was exactly as we had remembered it, full of touristy shops and restaurants lining its narrow cobble-stone streets. We poked our heads into the nearby St. Nazaire church, which once used to be a highly active basilica. It is interesting architecturally because it is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic vaulted arches. The multiple architectural styles was a result of the Albigensian crusades (which was a crusade to wipe out any non-Catholic worshippers, especially the Albigensians, believed to be aligned with the Cathars). After the conquest of this region, the French authorities wanted to assert their dominance and thus began demolishing the original church to rebuild it in Gothic style. The demolition was abandoned partway because of the start of the Hundred Years’ War and hence the architectural mix (the demolished parts of the church were later rebuilt in Gothic style). Stepping out of the dimly lit church, I wandered into the Hotel de la Cité because it provided some great views over the ramparts and countryside that weren’t visible from elsewhere within the walls. As I entered this five-star establishment, I stopped to look at the menu du jour which was a three course meal for about 130 Euros. I wound my way past reception and out a door which led to the gardens over-looking the ramparts and a few towers. I briefly enjoyed the views and then made my way back outside to where Megs was waiting. Out of curiosity, I checked to see how much it would cost to stay a night here and worked out that we could camp for almost twenty nights (rooms from 320 Euros!) - perhaps one day we’d come back to Carcassonne and live it up.

Our walking tour ended at Château Comtal, the third and final defensive layer.

We weren’t touring the castle today as we had been last time and instead we went browsing for menus in the vicinity. We found both recommendations from our guidebook and decided that restaurant Adelaide was definitely the winner. I thought we were too early to eat since it was only 12:30 but Megs reminded me that we were back in France and they only served lunch till two here. We were glad to get out of the cold. The interior was bright yet sophisticated. Wooden beamed ceilings and orange walls worked well with the dark brown furnishings. We were both glad there were hot appetizers to start so we both ordered French Onion soup. Megs was hesitant at first but then decided she would venture out of comfort zone and try something new (for those that don’t know, she’s not a fan of onions so this was a big leap). The steaming bowls of soup soon arrived and it smelled divine. The soup was rich and thick, with a big piece of baguette covered in melted cheese floating in the middle. Strands of cheese were floating throughout the soup and made every spoon oh so delicious. Unfortunately, Megs thought the soup was delicious so I didn’t get a second bowl to myself. For our mains, Megs had a 'dorade’ fish just pan seared with a fresh tomato and olive oil dressing, with rice cooked with a hint of rosemary on the side. I went for the traditional and regional dish of cassoulet with confit du canard and sausage. It is essentially a stew of baked white beans with a thick, salty gravy. Meghan couldn’t finish her meal since she still didn’t have much of an appetite so I ended up eating nearly half her meal, too! Not that I was complaining…the cassoulet was absolutely delicious and bubbling hot and warmed me right up. It was even better than it had been on our last visit. For dessert, we both went with the crème bruleé maison (maison referring to being cooked in-house). It was creamy and just sweet enough to round out the meal. We both left the restaurant well satisfied and luckily had a downhill stroll back to the parking lot. We got back to camp in the early afternoon and Megs began to work on the blog while I settled in for an afternoon nap (read: food coma) in the warmth of the van.