Carcassonne 21st June - Toulouse 22nd -25th

 

Took the bus from Carcassonne to see the Chateau Pennuatier as noted to have gardens designed by Andre Le Notre of Versailles fame. Found to basically have no gardens other than a roughly mown paddocks and remnants of poorly kept conifers. You could see/feel the indentation on the ground where gardens at been years ago but now mowed paddocks. There was a vineyard of about 4 hectares but boy was it rough, any vintner in Marlborough would hang their head in shame. Built in 1620 the same family line still own the property  but now favour conferences, cooking classes and their own wine to make a living. Must be a real struggle to maintain building of this size.

Back in Carcassonne being the summer solstice there was a concert in the Carnot Square free for everyone. We listened for a couple of hours then went back to the apartment to cook dinner. The concert finished maybe 2am so we then got some sleep 😴💤.

Carnot Place summer solstice evening.

Summer solstice, a magnificent full moon over the Medieval town.

Dragged ourselves out of the apartment Saturday morning on the move to Toulouse but not before we visited the Carcassonne Saturday morning market. We were impressed to see folks lining up to fill bottles with raw milk from quite a neat system. 

Main street Carcassonne summer celebration.

Marg'Aude farm is" having an open day 7th July where they are giving blueberry crumble with cream and chocolate. Raw milk is 1.20 euro per litre and you pay .50 euro for returnable bottle"

Red peppers, aubergine, courgette and green beans.

A cross, a cockerel and clock near the Saturday market

Arrived in Toulouse, our last south of France town we will be staying in for 5 nights.

Apartment is on the first floor of four stories with no ascendo (lift). Very cosy maybe 50sqm, with no outside window, just into the stairwell. Will stay cool and work fine. We have certainly had a vast range of apartments, the challenge to adapt to what is on offer.

We headed out for grocery supplies passing a pole vaulting competition of all things at the Place du Capitole, a huge central square of 12,000 sqm. Dumped the groceries and headed out to see the Pont Neuf.  Toulouse is known as La Ville Rose ( pink city) due to the use of terracota bricks used on a vast number of buildings from early centuries.

The city is bisected by the Garrone River from which the Midi canal was built in the 17th century to give access to the Mediterranean, 150km away. It is the 4th biggest city in France, 1.5m inhabitants.

Port Neuf bridge which they started building in 1544 and took until 1632 to complete due to the constant flooding of the Garrone River. Climate change? Designed with the tunnels to mitigate said floods.

Basilique Saint Senin de Toulouse which is only 1km from where we are staying, in fact notable sights are within a 2km radius.

Back to OTT ornamentation.

One of the many things we love about France is that they make ATM's interesting. This one is surrounded by a overhead photo of a part of the city.

After a good night sleep in our wee dark cave, needed after the summer solstice revellers in Carcassonne the night before, we loaded up our hiking app with a 20km loop of Toulouse highlights. This included 5 different gardens and river walk.

Jardin de Plantes with these very realistic statutes at the entrance of a wolf protecting her cubs.

This was a memorial to those who died in the Franco Prussian war.

A naturally occurring ford has been on the Garrone River from Roman times. Since enhanced over the centuries there is now an EDF plant generating electricity on the right bank and on the left bank this is the Hospital La Grave (unfortunate name) since the middle ages covering 6 hectares no less. 

This is the entrance to the Capitole. A grandiose administration building. Built in the 17th century that had had a common house in it since 1190. Over the centuries various notables/councilors extended the builing to what you see today. There are eight columns across the front representing the then eight districts in 1750 in Toulouse. At 135m long it is a massive building for administrative, archives.

Lots of rooms like this inside.....council chambers were very large and certainly not the austere places of other jurisdictions.

There are thousands of hire bikes throughout the city, swipe your card and you are away.

Apartment living has its limitations. A man's workshop on his balcony.

Furniture unable to be moved into premises via narrow stairs so the solution is a on a electric winch into the window of your newly purchased apartment.

This very old building is opposite our apartment selling cheeses, pates and dried meats. They put little tables out when open Tues to Sat for aperitifs etc. Thoroughly enjoyed our days hike in and around the city.

One of the "must do's" in Toulouse is to watch the sunset on Pont Neuf bridge. Hundreds of people line the river bank. On the way we had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant that had a very slick operation turning over tables and reasonably priced food.

Jeff is second from the left tucking his elbows in for passing cars and bikes. We were given complimentary cinnamon teas in little cups which we took up to the Pont Neuf to do the "must do".

On Monday, being another day when most places are closed, we decided to venture to the perimeter of the city via bus #44 to Mouettes and hike the Pech-busque loop which would give us views of the valley, city and Pyrenees on a good day from the Pech- David hill. The area is 280ha of recreational park for hiking, horses, mountain biking, dog walking; you name it. Numerous tracks, so grateful for our hiking app. There is also a 3 km gondola traversing the river to the south bank. Under the flight path to Toulouse airport and we were astounded just how many flights come in but being central to the South of France Ryanair have seen a great opportunity.

View to the south east with the Garrone River in the foreground and cable car.

Solar panels in an area called Empalot and the Zone Industrielle de Toulouse. Very flat landscape with the Pyrenees far far away not really visible today.

Strategically placed bench in the shade we stopped for our baguette. A barley crop with newly planted trees as an ecological border.

Made our way back to the apartment very pleased with the last couple of days of extensive walking and feel we have a good understanding of Toulouse. Found a nice restaurant for dinner near the Jardin Royal after our first choice was closed for a private booking. Beetroot stained hard boiled eggs, flakes of trout with leek chips, gnocchi on tiny plates was just perfect and good value. Nice stroll through the gardens again.

This sort of prepared us for the next day where we had booked a Victor Hugo Marche food tour. Was held around the Jardin Pierre Goudli area in the hugh food market. Although we gave seen plenty of food markets in our travels this gave the opportunity to learn of the history and French perspective on various subjects.

Some of the dried pork....black pigs eating acorns for 4-5 years then cured for 5 1/2 years cost upwards of 850 euro...not a typo. This is a family run business of 60+years by a family who fled the Spanish Civil War, never to return.

Ahhh the cheeses....every iteration goat, sheep, cow; age and style. Plenty of discussion about time of year, sex of animal, altitudes effecting flavors. When to serve, how to serve and wine types as accompaniments. The French are rightly passionate about

their locally sourced food. 

Duck Foie Gras not the usual goose. Jeff was in heaven but afraid I could not get past the forced feeding, even if the non migratory ducks are happy to eat all day according to our food guide. The ducks are a cross between a migratory and a non migratory one with the cross being sterile like a mule.

A happy vendor with all things pasta, handmade, reasonably priced. You can purchase how ever much you what and all locally grown ingredients including the wheat for the flour.

Our group; two kiwis and the rest American, everywhere from Milwaukee to Utah.

There were 3 wines to try of only one we rated being a white.  We also learnt about the cost of being a citizen, rights as a citizen and why our food guide moved to Toulouse from Vietnam with her French husband. Healthcare, housing (less than 2% for a mortgage with 25% deposit), car use or otherwise.  Learnt heaps and very enjoyable.

Tomorrow we head to the Airbus complex ( a major employer/ industry here) for all things aerospace and the Bember Foundation which is the major art gallery in the city.

Beaucaire and Carcassonne 18th - 20th June

We spent a day from Nimes in the small town of Beaucaire via 40min bus ride. The own has a port on the Sete-Rhone canal and a castle with birds of prey.  Also you cross a bridge to another town called Tarascon. Actually missed the stop to Beaucaire by crossing the bridge so started at Tarascon. Was a Tuesday so a fabulous market was underway. 

Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes.

There was a huge range of clothing, shoes, French linen also; sadly too heavy to bring home. We crossed the bridge to the "other side".

Beaucaire had a nice feel and we enjoyed walking along the canal looking at all the boats. Nationalist town very proud "viva le France🇫🇷".  A bit run down we would have to say due to many empty shops and apartments with several " 'a vendre" signs in the centre of the old town.  We do love wandering amongst the old towns noting the construction and expertise from 300yrs ago or older.

Conversation from one's balcony to the girl below.

Life goes on notwithstanding how decrepit the buildings look from the outside.

In 1675 someone called Jean Baptise Arnaud de Margallier lived here. 

By this time it was very warm and not having bought our homemade baguettes lunch under shady trees called. 

Le chef looks like he also enjoys his food. Love the shoes..very Goofy.

Petit salads and a glass of wine for two....16 euros. Note my very short hair. Earlier in the day, before getting the bus, we had a booking for a desperately needed haircut. Hairdresser spoke no English but one of the assistants spoke some. Translation seemed to be ok but somewhere along the "hair tucked behind ears" become " cut hair behind ears". Needless to say a bit short back and sides with mop top but survivable.

We had given up on the castle and birds of prey....usual story closed Mon/Tues.  So got the bus back to Nimes. The apartment we were in had a rooftop sitting area which was wonderful for looking over rooftops, admiring the flocks of swifts at the end of the day. The swifts are larger versions of swallows and very noisy, constantly on the move. Flocks collective noun is "screamers" because that is the noise they make.

Next day, Wednesday, we are on the move by train to Carcassonne. Only a couple of hours from Nimes. Carcassonne is a hilltop town with a medieval citadel, double walled fortifications and many watch towers. First walls were in Roman times which were then massively expanded in the 12th and 13th century. We are always in awe of how the complicated construction, with huge stones, was achieved to still be standing in its entirety today. Not sure this can be said for some if the vanity projects erected today. Most tourists only come for a half a day to whip around this but we are here until Friday.

This is the view from our apartment window. The Saint Michel cathedral is right beside the apartment with tolling bells every half and full hour which we do like to hear. They do stop the tolls between 10pm and 6am thankfully.

The castle and ramparts called Chateau Comtal or the citadel in the distance. An ancient town within the walls and then what is called Le Bastide in the foreground.

A night it is quite something. Reminded one of Edinburgh castle when lit up.

The Le Bastide is certainly worth a wander about. Similar to Beauclaire seem to be many empty or boarded up establishments. A shop owner told us April/May the Americans come, quiet June/July then some action in the Autumn. So heavy reliance on tourism, some movies are shot here given the backdrop, there is of course plenty of vineyards and several Michel star/digestation restuarants but you get the impression for average inhabitants it is a struggle. 

Ramparts of the citadel.

Outstanding gargoyles

This tower was renovated in the 19th century, using red brick seemed a random choice considering the range of rubble, stone used since the 12th century.

Tomorrow we thought we would try to get to the Chateau Pennuatier as the gardens were designed by Le Notre, who planned the gardens of Versailles in Paris. The Chateau was built in 1620 and is supposedly open at 10am but we find in France this is not always the case. Websites are often not updated or like this morning getting into the Citadel was delayed because "staff" decided to have a strike for an hour. There may or may not be a bus but we can walk 5km, nothing is impossible.