Sonne Encore

6 décembre 2005

So much history and so little time today, we went from Toulouse to Carcassonne via Baziége, Villefranche du Lauragais, Avignonnet en Lauragais, the banks of Canal du Midi, Saissac, Saint Pagoul and about one hundred other little villages. On our way we met with giant windmills and many churches, many of them very typical with their bell tower shaped as a wall and not as a proper tower like it's usually the case. The one in Avignonnet en Lauragais is fortified. In Saissac, a medieval town in the middle of nowhere, we walked down the empty streets before admiring the castle from afar. The history of the Cathar warriors is very present in the area, which shows in many ways. Once in Carcassonne we had the mandatory typical meal and Thomas obliged to the cullinary tradition by tasting his very first "cassoulet" (french) which, after all, is nothing else than a regional version of the brasilian "feijoada"(french), a recipe that Thomas knows well from spending so much time in Brazil during the past year. The weather was terrible for most of the day, except for about one hour after lunch, which gave us the opportunity to walk around the city of Carcassonne. As you may know, Carcassonne is indeed one of the only medieval city that remains faithfull to it's original plan, complete with its drawbridge, enclosing walls, way of guards, dungeon, ditches etc. You may take a glimpse of its globality in the picture before the last one, caught between the clouds and the shadows of the clouds in the only ray of light of the day. For more pictures and a complete history of the city you can also click here. (french and english)