Let's play Carcassonne!
Trip dates: February 3, 2017 - February 5, 2017
After spending a week in Paris, we were off to southern France for about another week. The first stop - Carcassonne! There isn't too much to see here, but it's definitely worth a quick visit (just a day is enough) to check out the medieval Cité and castle itself.
We took two trains using our Eurail pass (of course) to get there, with a pit stop in Montpellier to switch trains. The Eurail pass is great for flexibility but it wasn't so great in France because most of the trains require reservations, and the reservations are kind of pricey (anywhere from 20 to 40 euro)! Because of that, we expected the trains to be really nice, especially in first class - but they really weren't. They were pretty old and a bit dirty. There are obviously worse trains but for the reservation price that was required, I expected a better product! At least the scenery was pretty nice as we got further south, with rolling green hills followed by snow-capped mountains as we traveled south along the Rhone river.
Our hotel in Carcassonne was actually in the Cité, since it was shoulder season so there was availability at reasonable prices. The roads in the Cité are really tiny though, so the taxis drop you off at a parking lot outside the ramparts, where a skinny van eventually picks you up to take you inside to your hotel.
Waiting for the shuttle to take me to Hotel Le Donjon
Hurry up shuttle guy, we want to catch the last gasp of sunlight!
After checking in and dropping off our stuff, we rushed out to explore the Cité with what remaining light there was. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and we barely saw any other people around as we explored the ramparts of our castle playground. It was a great first night and introduction to this medieval city!
The next morning, we did a walking tour to learn more about this medieval city and its history. We also explored the Carcassonne basilica, the actual castle itself, and the surrounding ramparts, which provided some nice views of the lower city. Here are plenty of pictures so you can see for yourself what we saw!
We ate most of our meals in the Cité of Carcassonne. The city is known for cassoulet, which is a casserole dish of white beans and some kind of meat. We tried this dish at two different places. It can be pretty savory but the texture (or lack thereof) gets a bit old before you're through with the dish. Overall, the food in the Cité was just alright. A lot of restaurants were closed though due to it being low season, so we didn't exactly get to pick the cream of the crop. Still glad we were visiting at this time though, because the streets are so tiny and in high season, it gets completely jam-packed with people and seems like a nightmare to get around!
Our second evening in Carcassonne, we decided to check out the lower city where most of the people actually live nowadays. The city itself is pretty small, with some of the streets being a bit more charming than others. We strolled around a bit, got some nice views of the Cité, and then found a place to eat dinner that turned out to be pretty good!
Now I know we've said that we aren't really homesick yet, but there are some things that we do miss, one of which is playing board games! The whole time we were in Carcassonne, I was really hoping we'd see the game somewhere and be able to play but alas, no such luck. Oh wells, new life goal: play board games in the places they are named after! And if you like board games and aren't familiar with Carcassonne, you should go check it out - it's one of my faves. Remember to farm your meeple when you play!
Meeple building a road
