hello all,
so i'm sure at this point you all think i've fallen off the face of the earth never to return. alas, that is not true, i am just an utter failure at this 'blogging' thing. in any case, i suppose the time has finally come for me to update and regale all with tales of my adventures.
sidsmums was really amazing. one of the days we were there we decided to go to this little 'cave' which means wine cellar in french. the store was two towns over in pomas so a hike was in order. we went through our town, preixan, through the next town, ruffiac d'aude, and finally through vineyards, along the highway and across a bridge into the final destination, pomas. all told about 6 or 7km. we get to the store and the lady informs us that we are more than welcome to try any and every type of wine before we need to make a decision. needless to say, we did. made the walk back much more enjoyable in fact. so we hiked back to sidsmums, 20 or so bottles in tow. (note: there were 5 of us, it wasn't just michael and i) after we got back we all got ready to go to dinner. we dined at a wonderful place called 'chez leon' which despite it's quite fancy name, was nothing more than a truck stop along the highway. but let me just say nothing like a truck stop back home. they had a full salad bar spread, you got to pick from duck or steak for your second course, and then they had an entire dessert bar. all of this is accompanied with copious amounts of FREE wine. it was brillant. and i think the most fun part about the whole thing was that it was in the next town over so we had to walk along totally pitch black dark french streets, all the while under the brightest and most amazing stars i've ever seen. later that night we decided to try the wine that had been made so close to us. i think when we woke up in the morning there was one lone bottle left. it was a good night.
so i'm sure at this point you all think i've fallen off the face of the earth never to return. alas, that is not true, i am just an utter failure at this 'blogging' thing. in any case, i suppose the time has finally come for me to update and regale all with tales of my adventures.
sidsmums was really amazing. one of the days we were there we decided to go to this little 'cave' which means wine cellar in french. the store was two towns over in pomas so a hike was in order. we went through our town, preixan, through the next town, ruffiac d'aude, and finally through vineyards, along the highway and across a bridge into the final destination, pomas. all told about 6 or 7km. we get to the store and the lady informs us that we are more than welcome to try any and every type of wine before we need to make a decision. needless to say, we did. made the walk back much more enjoyable in fact. so we hiked back to sidsmums, 20 or so bottles in tow. (note: there were 5 of us, it wasn't just michael and i) after we got back we all got ready to go to dinner. we dined at a wonderful place called 'chez leon' which despite it's quite fancy name, was nothing more than a truck stop along the highway. but let me just say nothing like a truck stop back home. they had a full salad bar spread, you got to pick from duck or steak for your second course, and then they had an entire dessert bar. all of this is accompanied with copious amounts of FREE wine. it was brillant. and i think the most fun part about the whole thing was that it was in the next town over so we had to walk along totally pitch black dark french streets, all the while under the brightest and most amazing stars i've ever seen. later that night we decided to try the wine that had been made so close to us. i think when we woke up in the morning there was one lone bottle left. it was a good night.
the kicker was though, that michael and i had decided to go into carcassonne that day, and in order to do so we needed to catch a very early ride into town. it was an experience i'd rather not be repeating any time real soon. a big white van hurtling over the french countryside and around round-abouts. whew, i was quite glad when we got there.
michael and i got out and began our trek up to the walled inner city. we made it most of the way there and then saw a side path that looked like it might lead to a good photo. it did. but rather than climb all the way back down and go around the castle we just decided to keep walking up this hill (clearly not an entrance) and try to find somewhere to get in at the top. it wound up being just fine, and actually more fun than a conventional entrance into the city.
in any case, the city was gorgeous. just how you would picture an old medeival city to look. winding streets. small shops. everything done in stone. totally cool. a bit touristy, but what can you expect. michael and i just walked around most of the day, enjoying the sights. we stopped for a traditional languedoc (the region of france) lunch. we got this thing called cassoulet. which pretty much means a leg of duck in a pot of beans with a really delicious sauce. needless to say, delicious. got back on the bus to go back to sidsmums and spent a very nice night out in the country under the stars with new friends... and more wine.
the next day was our last day there. we went for a bike ride. sat around in the warm sun. read our books, and painted. jan (the woman who owns sidsmums) thinks that each of the people who go through it need to leave their own mark. so some people have painted things on the outside of the building. others have painted the keychains. others have gardened, made signs, painted random things that are now in the yard, etc. while we were there it was cigarette pots. which was pretty much a terra cotta pot turned upside down with the bottom below it so that people could put their cigarettes in that and cover it with a rock so that it didn't smell and no butts wound up on the ground. i was lucky enough to be able to paint a pot.
it's the night sky with a bunch of consellations hidden on it. all the constellations are written on the inside of the pot so people can know what to look for while they're searching. so fun. i dont think i've painted in years. later that night jan got a group of italian boys who were staying the night. they were beautiful. and at one point i came down to the lower bunk to find the whole lot of them outside on the street in their 'pijamas' smoking. and when i say pijamas i mean just their boxers. totally histerical. i come around the corner and go, 'oh hi!' super nice though, talked to them until early in the morning in broken italian french and english. oh, and the night was celebrated with a mini bottle of absenthe because michael and i were leaving. (the absenthe tasted eerily similar to the pastis we had drank in montpellier a few days earlier...) any who, the whole day really was the perfect end to the stay at carcassonne.
the next morning we were off bright and early at 7am to paris to begin the real adventure.
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