Carcassonne

Four days were spent in the area exploring the city, the castle, and nearby Toulouse.

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The relocation from Barcelona, Spain, to Carcassonne, France, took place today. Yesterday gave me the sense of starting to know my way about the city of Barcelona. This morning, almost lost in the heat of the underground in the Metro, the evidence for more training squealed at me like the wheels of the Metro. I thought I know which stop for the rail station. The signage and my sense once I stood there on the platform told me otherwise. Cell service for map directions was intermittent and the directions provided very suspect. I didn't want to pay another $3 to exit the Metro and go topside so ended up riding three metro lines to go in a tight circle finally arriving at the Barcelona-Sants train station.

The train station mid morning is a happening place! Nothing like when I arrived at 11PM at night. There were queues everywhere! Based on my travels across Spain, I assumed (bad bad bad!) that all I needed to do was visit the Renfe ticket window to pickup a train reservation. Quickly realizing that a take-a-number system operated I grabbed one. Fifteen minutes later with the train departing in 50 minutes the Renfe attendant said I had to book it only line through the French rail system SNCF - say what!?! I'd already been on the SNCF sight and didn't see how to make a reservation using a Eurail pass, but Renfe attendant said that was possible. I tried for 20 minutes, threw in the towel and bought a full fare ticket, lined up in the queue for security, then the queue to check the electronic ticket, then finally down the stairs to the track, and then boarded the train. Hey! Fifteen minutes remained before departure - I've got to work on my technique - that didn't cut it close enough!

The SNCF train slid smoothly north from Barcelona. The world instantly changed from Spanish to French with me only recognizing a few more words. After two hours, some views of shallow mud flats reminding one of the Texas Gulf Coast, the train pulled into Narbonne, France. There I tried to obtain a partial ticket refund but the language barrier proved too much.

The local French train from Narbonne to Carcassonne became jam packed with locals, tourists, and tourists with bikes. The train provided slots for bikes, but there were way more bikes than hanging slots. Additionally, the exit door for the bikes in Carcassonne was broken so the bikes had to be migrated through the crowded train aisle that mysteriously went up and then down along the length of the car - I'm sure there is an engineering reason. Only thirty minutes and - voila! - we arrived in Carcassonne next to the Canal du Midi.

The Canal du Midi first drew my attention to this region. It looks like a lovely canal to do a self-driving boat canal trip. It's very popular. We instead decided on a canal boat trip in eastern France instead. Still, seeing a lock immediately in front of the train station brought a delightful smile to my face.

A few blocks walk brought me to the VRBO I'd be staying at. After a little escape-room solving to find the place and gain access, I'm settling in for the next few days. The VRBO overlooks the lovely plaza, Place Carnot, with large umbrella covered tables and chairs of the coffee shops and restaurants on the plaza.

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Eggs for breakfast a welcome change. Now off to visit La Cite de Carcassonne. This intact medieval castle built in the 14th century attracts throngs of tourists - me included!

Something striking stood out today. The smells of urine and bleach in Spain have been replaced by the aromas of marvelous cooking of rich cheese dishes, fragrant sauces, and baking bread - I could have just stood at one vent taking in the smell of cooking bread - wow! Every 30 feet in La Cite another different yet succulent aroma greeted me as the restaurants prepared for the tourists and lunch. It was an amazing experience.

The castle is fun to wander about in and to see defense systems in their (useless) glory. The castle was abandoned after the 15th century when cannon technology arrived.

The river Aude is pleasant to walk along with park spaces on both sides. A dam built at the turn of the 20th century has had a fish ladder added.

The town of Carcassonne is comprised of mostly one-way streets just wide enough for a small car and a couple of pedestrians. The blind intersections deserve a pause as the occasional cars do stop, but come fast. The Canal du Midi passes in front of the train station. Fortuitously a tour boat was in one of the locks rising at a good clip as many folks watched. The locks appeared automatic as nobody seemed to operate anything; the lock just opened once the water levels equalized.

It's been on and off drizzling rain today.

I appreciated the public toilets in the area. I've not seen anything quite like them. One automatically cleaned the toilet seat between customers.

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The city of Toulous beckoned today. The fourth largest city in France with a population of about 400,000 lies 50 miles northwest of Carcassonne. This day tripped marked only the second time the Eurail pass was used without requiring reservations. I wish they'd all been that easy - more later. The ride passed green vineyards and ripening wheat fields. It took just over an hour and the train's final destination. The Toulous Matabiau train station is under renovations constricting passages so crowded on the inside. Toulous has a second train station, Gare Raynal, that I didn't visit. After some minor searching, I did find the WC which cost me a euro with change provided by a very excellent speaking woman of African descent.

The tree lined Canal du Midi with a 6 meter (BIG!) lock greets you at the front of the station. A number of rental boats floated just around the corner. Final inspections in preparation for departure appeared under way. With several destinations flagged on Google maps, I just started walking. Initially, the city felt cold and industrial. After a few blocks I arrived at a double decker merry-go-round! My first! I didn't know such entertainment existed!. It was in a small circular park with a number of panhandlers and homeless. Continuing deeper into the what turned out to be the older section of Toulous, the streets became narrower and one-way and the shops and cafes more inviting.

Several things stood out on my 7+ mile walk for the day. The Carmes market was busy, clean, and full of cheese, meat, fruit, flower, and vegetable stands. The fish display exceeding anything seen even those next to the ocean. I came across another linear market set up along a surface tram line. It was comprised of products (and people) from northern Africa and the Middle East. So crowded, I resorted to walking down the bike path - something discouraged. After a picnic in the Prairie Des Filtres park overlooking the Garonne River, I found and entered the museum of historical medicine in the Hotel Dieu Saint-Jacques. A delightfully friendly gentleman, probably about my age, greeted me with limited and heavily accented English. Since the museum is entirely in French, non-speaking French visitors I suspect are highly unusual. He asked if I was a doctor. I thoroughly enjoy it! The Hotel was once a hospital and research facility stretching back hundreds of years. The next stop into one of some many churches held a surprise. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Daurade (that's a mouthful!) church had a free pipe organ concert in progress. The performer was a professor at a local school. If you have not experienced a musical performance in a cathedral I strongly encourage you do; it may raise your spirituality toward the heavens. I'm captivated and uplifted each and every time. The last significant stop was the Place du Capitole. The plaza with cafes on one side and the Capitole building with its long history on the other was filled with activity that included a demonstration for women's freedom and rights and some people practices dancing.

I arrived back in Carcassonne at 8:20PM after a full day.

Some (more?) words on the Eurail pass. You may want to skip this paragraph unless you enjoy self-flagellation. The Eurail website markets the pass as if you can jump on any train with a moments notice. Only three times of the many trains I've been on has that been possible. Reservations are needed on most trains. Obtaining the reservations costs money, time, and changes from country to country. I haven't done the calculus to decide if the cost of the pass combined with the savings merged with the reservation headache warrants the pass. Portugal required going to a ticket window to make and pay for the reservation - usually about $12. Spain required going to a ticket window ON THE DAY OF TRAVEL! - costing nothing to $40. France supposedly can be ordered on the SNCF website - I gave up trying - in France the reservations can be made on the Eurail website for a $2.5 fee per ticket with reservations fees ranging from an additional $7 to $50. Just because it's on the website doesn't make it easy! The smartphone Eurail planner app works pretty well. Sadly you do the planning on the app and then when connected to the website (through a hidden series of steps!) must re-enter information on the website to make the reservation. Once you've gone through the entire process and ready to pay you may be told no tickets (for the Eurail discount) are available suggesting you try a different train schedule. Then the e-tickets are delivered in an email not on the app. I spent about two hours looking for different routes and schedules today booking trains to London from France. (Reed once thought a travel agent might be worth the cost; he might be right!) I do think I'm getting a handle on this Eurail business. It's cost me a few hours and two last minute full fare tickets. I'm dubious I'll recoup the Eurail pass cost. In hindsight, it's easier to book tickets on the respective train websites (SNCF (France), renfe (Spain), Eurostar (channel crossing), and cp.pt (Portugal)) though you pay full fare.

Using a smartphone while traveling, I just discovered that the iphone will use "smart dialing" which means if the phone number is in your contacts it will make the magic happen to dial the number with the added international dialing required. If the number is not in your smart phone you must dial using the international protocol by pressing and holding the "0" number until the "+" shows up then enter the country code (1 for the USA, 33 for france, etc.) then the phone number. I kept trying to dial "0's" ahead of the country code - chock it up to old age and carrying the knowledge baggage of past dialing requirements.

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Today I did laundry and worked on upcoming travel arrangements. I did enjoy a coffee and wine at a cafe in the plaza my accomodations overlook while updating the blog.