drron29

And a scenic river Aude. Then time to head for the castle.

A stroll down to the river. The school with a great view. A nice little park with spring flowers.

A lovely old village church on reaching the village. Unfortunately locked up. Some history. The village was very quiet.

I had decided the place was very much just a tourist trap. I still had a couple of hours to while away so I decided to walk down to the village in the valley. I had hoped to find a place with something nice to spend my 4 euro on. Sadly it was not to be as most places were closed and those open had prices the same as on the top of the hill. I left by the back door -the Aude gate. So called because at the bottom was the Aude river.

I now had to find a place for lunch with a price cap of 20.5 Euro. Found a place with a 3 course lunch for 16.5 E. Now several restaurants had a 3 course lunch for under 20 E but often the first course was duck gizzard salad,duck heart salad,black sausage salad or a warm goat's cheese salad. This place at least had a French onion soup. I didn't hold much hope that the starter and dessert would be good so I wasn't disappointed. But it was a cold day and I felt a cassoulet would be good. Fortunately here is was hearty and nice.

The last of the church. And now just wandering the narrow streets. A nice patisserie.

More of the church interior.

Finally descending from the ramparts. And now entering the church. First time I have seen an admission of cult status by a church.

Now passing the former cathedral.

And has already been said this is actually a recent construction from the 19th century. What it looked like before reconstruction. A theatre has been added.

You do get great views across the countryside from the ramparts.

A museum of some original pieces of the original building.

I had forgotten to replenish my cash reserves so found myself with just 30 euro to pay for entry fees and lunch. Te entry to the castle and ramparts was Euro 9.50. As this turned out to be the best thing to do in the old town I am glad I did it. So off we go. Starts off with an audiovisual display. A lot of climbing and descending stairs. But some great iews.

On our mid cruise questionnare I asked if hosted tables at dinner would resume. The answer was it is currently being reviewed by head office to resume fleet wide. We miss this little extra.

Walking into the city there was a local market though I thought with produce at tourist prices. Now on this walk up to the castle a young Englih couple were tagging along listening to the commentary from our guide. It was to be a slf guided tour so no earpieces. Thet were a lovely fun couple and a couple of us older folk had an enjoyable conversation with them. They will feature in an upcoming post on another day.

And we arrived at Carcassonne. There was a funny episode as I watched people get off the bus. There was an older couple who preceeded us into Atlantide. It was a formal night but he was only wearing a bright short sleeve shirt with no jacket or tie. The Dress Code is being enforced on this segment so he was asked if he would go back to his room and get a jacket. From then his partner took over and was quite aggressive saying Why should he wear a jacket to the every day restaurant. The Maitre'D remained calm and pointed out that the dress code was formal for the night and that it had been printed in the chronicles. and announced in one of the announcements. She again said she couldn't see why he should have to wear a jacket and said besides he doesn't have one. The Maitre'D said well you have 2choices. You can eat in La Terraza which does have tables available tonight or have room service. The other option is we can lend him a jacket andtie. After a few more pithy remarks she agreed to the second choice. But as luck would have it they were on yhe bus I was on. It was quite a cold day and he was wearing a jacket. It was an expensive black leather jacket but would have looked better than many of the other jackets the night before. that night I told the Maitr'D who had agood chuckle. So back to the report. The view of the walled city after alighting the bus.

About half way we stopped at a Rest area for a comfort stop. I immediately thought when I saw the Supermarket nam Hello,Hello. Therewas a patisserie whic had pastels de Nata but I decided against having one. There was also a Hungry Jacks but it was closed.. So off again on the bus.

The next day we awoke in Sete,France. Another industrial city. The views from our balcony. I then set off on a 2 hour tour ton Medieval Carcassonne whilst Rojaan stayed on board as they said extensive walking over rough ground and she didn't want her hip playing up more than it already was. After the visit it was quite obvious that she made the correct decision as there was a lot of ups and downs on narrow stairs. Unfortunately on our bus there was an under 2 year old who grizzled,cried, was very loud and threw a couple of tantrums. I wasn't alone not liking the experience. So scenes from the bus. Once again a coal port. Lots of vineyards.

Not much else that day. We improved our trivia score to 16 but dropped a place to second. Golf was even more crowded today so it will be my last day until the next segment. Back to Atlantide for dinner with one of the other couples on the trivia team. So the days menu. Rojaan went with her usual pics with the beef tartare and lamb chops. I went with the seafood medley with caviar, the pumpkin soup and the Wiener schnitzel. All quite acceptable though the schnitzel just slightly dry. Then it was time for sunset.

Today when we awoke this was our view. A very calm Mediterranean. Yes it was a sea day. I decided on something different for breakfast -a panini with smoked salmon and cottage cream heated up. When we had finished breakfast we noticed some people on the deck getting excited so I went to investigate. Dolphins. They didn't remain on the surface for long and were spread out so I just pointed and clicked away. Surprised to see 4 out of 6 shots had dolphins in them including one obviously young one. Not very good shots though. For lunch we went back to Spaccanapoli. My Diavolo pizza was enjoyable. After lunch I went and did a few laps of the walking track. Views from the walk including some unclaimed sun lounges.