Friday, August 26
Today we docked in Sete on the south west coast of France. We were up early again as we had booked a tour to Carcassonne, the UNESCO World Heritage site about 90 minutes away. It is the biggest medieval fortress in Europe, and people still live in the city which is encased by 52 towers and two concentric walls. I was here in 1974 with my 3 friends when we travelled around Europe on the train for 3 months and stayed in Youth Hostels!
We arrived about 10am and had nearly 5 hours to explore this fascinating city on our own. We set off walking around the "list", which is the area between the two city walls. When we reached the Porte d'Aude we walked up the cobblestone street and made our way to the Basilica St.Nazaire. This church dates back to the 12th Century, and was quite plain inside except for some beautiful stained glass windows.
Nearby was an Artisan Confectioner with the best nougat we had tasted - we tried the orange and raspberry flavours and you could smell the fruit in it! This gave us an appetite so we started looking at menus, and settled on one in a large square shaded by big oak trees, which had wifi of course! Noelle had a cold soup while I had gizzard salad for starters, followed by cassoulet, the local dish, and we finished the meal with apple tart.
We walked to Chataeu Comtal which backs onto the ramparts of the walls, but after such a big lunch didn't feel like going through another fort and walk on more walls in the heat of the day! So we explored more of the little cobblestone streets and checked out the shops, which gave us a bit of shade and coolness in little bursts. On a non touristy street we even came across the Youth Hostel I stayed in 42 years ago!
The trip back to ship went quickly as we snoozed on and off. Back on board we had a quick sun bake and then got ready for dinner. This is our last night at sea, and tomorrow morning we arrive in Barcelona. However we don't disembark until Sunday which is a bit sad as this has been a very enjoyable cruise.
Today we docked in Sete on the south west coast of France. We were up early again as we had booked a tour to Carcassonne, the UNESCO World Heritage site about 90 minutes away. It is the biggest medieval fortress in Europe, and people still live in the city which is encased by 52 towers and two concentric walls. I was here in 1974 with my 3 friends when we travelled around Europe on the train for 3 months and stayed in Youth Hostels!
We arrived about 10am and had nearly 5 hours to explore this fascinating city on our own. We set off walking around the "list", which is the area between the two city walls. When we reached the Porte d'Aude we walked up the cobblestone street and made our way to the Basilica St.Nazaire. This church dates back to the 12th Century, and was quite plain inside except for some beautiful stained glass windows.
Nearby was an Artisan Confectioner with the best nougat we had tasted - we tried the orange and raspberry flavours and you could smell the fruit in it! This gave us an appetite so we started looking at menus, and settled on one in a large square shaded by big oak trees, which had wifi of course! Noelle had a cold soup while I had gizzard salad for starters, followed by cassoulet, the local dish, and we finished the meal with apple tart.
We walked to Chataeu Comtal which backs onto the ramparts of the walls, but after such a big lunch didn't feel like going through another fort and walk on more walls in the heat of the day! So we explored more of the little cobblestone streets and checked out the shops, which gave us a bit of shade and coolness in little bursts. On a non touristy street we even came across the Youth Hostel I stayed in 42 years ago!
The trip back to ship went quickly as we snoozed on and off. Back on board we had a quick sun bake and then got ready for dinner. This is our last night at sea, and tomorrow morning we arrive in Barcelona. However we don't disembark until Sunday which is a bit sad as this has been a very enjoyable cruise.
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