August 25 -- train to Carcassonne

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This was an elderly train car. It had the best public-transport "cup holder" I've ever seen. There was an indentation to hold the bottom of the bottle, as well as that ring to stop it from tipping.

Unfortunately, it was not air-conditioned, nor was the one we switched to when we went south to Carcassonne. It was a warm day................





I think I got more good pics from the train that day, though, than any other on this trip.

We were spoiled, in Alaska, to have places on the train cars where we could stand outside and get our pics with no window-interference.............

It makes a huge difference exactly where the sun is, and whether the lights inside the train are on, and even what the photographer wears (dark clothing reflects less than light clothing........).

How close the ambient vegetation is to the train also makes a huge difference. Fewer trees mean more pics of things other than blurry trees......

This is Bayonne..........







I wonder if this is the Adour........







Corn.





The last of a really good nectarine.





That cute little gray castle is for rent.....

A bit close to the tracks for my taste, especially in a country that actually uses its trains.........





Hey! Look! The Pyrenees!





I liked the curve of the corn......













I wonder what this is..... Anyone?





Lots and lots of sunflowers grown in southern France. I'm sure there are sunflowers in this pic, as well as two different fields of corn, and maybe something else, too.....





We saw lots of fields which I think had been harvested of some sort of grain. In some places there were bales of straw stacked beside the fields.

I think the background has been harvested, and do not know what is in front.







Something else I do not recognize.















Sunflowers in the foreground.













We arrived in Carcassonne, hot and sticky. We found our hotel without trouble (and schlepped everything up the stairs; no elevator). Our room was large and pleasant, and looked out on the street which had large sycamores on both sides.

It was late enough that we headed out to see what we could find in the way of dinner.

Carcassonne is an odd place. In contrast to open and friendly Bayonne, it seemed ... closed.

Literally -- lots of closed-up shop fronts. Lots of places that were listed in the guidebooks (laundromat, restaurants, etc) were defunct.

And figuratively. Our hotel people seemed open and friendly, but walking around the town ... it was ok during the daytime, but as it got later, well, in sharp contrast to Bayonne, it did feel creepy.

We were able to find a restaurant that suited the foodie, and the food was really good. She had cassoulet -- white beans cooked with various meats (maybe duck, maybe pork, etc, depending on the particular recipe). I don't know what kind of beans they were -- bigger than navy beans, and with a more elongated shape.

It was delicious. Regional, but not, alas, seasonal. We were very glad to have tasted it, but it was way too heavy for the hot weather. Perfect October-in-Michigan food, but for a hot day in the south of France ... not what the body hoped for.

We ate outside in a very nice enclosed space, and it was dark. I'm afraid the only thing I took a pic of was my post-prandial tea, and I cannot remember what I had to eat. I believe it was good......

We had thought we might walk over, after dinner, close enough to the old walled city, to get a glimpse of it all lit up.

We were tired, and our feeling of creepiness increased. There were enough tourists out that we went on and had a glimpse, but did not linger. Tourists were all heading back into the modern town, and we stuck with them. We did not see anything that seemed threatening at all, it was just a ... pricking of the thumbs ... that we heeded.

Perhaps just poor economic conditions, or maybe the ghosts of people who lived there millenia before, but there was definitely an uneasiness about Carcassonne that we did not encounter anywhere else I visited on this trip.

UPDATE, December 31 -- the foodie has posted her take on our shift to Carcassonne and our first evening there.

I don't remember being as struck as she by the difference in accent. If you recall, I sat between a French woman and a Russian woman (now living in Paris) on the plane on my way to France. The French woman mentioned the vin/vang accent difference (using vin as an example), when we talked about differences between different areas of France. I was lucky to have gotten such interesting (and informative) seat partners.



In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these posts, here is a link to the post that comes after this one.

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