Paris to Bordeaux continued...


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Carcassone-- medieval marvel

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Late on that glittering November evening I left the modern ville basse on foot, crossed the seven-hundred-year-old bridge over the river that separates the fortress from the modern town, looked up the sharp escarpment, and behold, before my eyes, nine centuries disappeared. I became an anachronism, a twentieth-century American living in eleventh-century France. In one sweep the Middle Ages were revealed. A magical moonlit city of walls and towers and battlements, defiant and impregnable, rose before me... Not a person was to be seen, not a light showed, nor a dog barked as I climbed the path and walked beneath the massively fortified gate, through the double line of enormous walls, into a strange world. Incredibly ancient houses, dark and ghostly, reeled grotesquely along the crazy streets. My footsteps echoed. There was no other sound..." Richard Halliburton 1921 I was fascinated by Halliburton's description of Carcassonne when I read it over 50 years ago and no...
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Toulouse: the Trek

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On our last day on the Canal du Garonne, we started out on familiar green waterways, but as we pedaled by more industrial areas, we began to see signs we were approaching a city. Our first sighting of the Canal du Midi was so familiar we weren't even sure we were changing direction, but we had officially reached Toulouse. It was soooo hot today that we explored Toulouse by walking slowly down the shady sides of each street, and carefully stopping only under trees to check the map. At one point we joined the crowd under the mesmerizing cafe umbrellas that sprayed a lovely cool mist on our heads as we chugged water and tried more Italian sorbet flavors. We had green apple, passion fruit, mango, and pear. With the temperature up to 101 today, little children were also looking for ways to cool off in the square. We ducked into several medieval churches (in various states of decay or restoration) because 1) they're interesting and 2) the...
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Le chateau

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Tonight is our last night on the Canal du Midi. As a splurge we stayed at a genuine chateau (as far as I can tell, "chateau" just means old rich person's house). We strolled the gardens, swam in the pool and then retired to our room to wait for dinner. And wait. 'llLes francais like to eat dinner late. Early morning sunshine on the amber waves of grain. From Pont Neuf in Castelnaudary Le moulin at the summit above Castelnaudary. The view from this mountaintop was spectacular. Inside the windmill And finally, le chateau!
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