Carcassonne

Our three-week trip began on October 6th when we landed in Barcelona.  We picked up our car, which included wireless data, and drove to Carcassonne France, then Andorra La Vella, followed by Tossa De Mar on Spain’s Costa Brava.  We stayed in each place just two nights, which was enough to get a taste, but maybe not a meal (it might be called the tapas tour).  We returned to Barcelona, met Eric and Alba (my brother and sister-in-law) and began our grand tour of Spain. 

But our first night in Europe was in Carcassonne. We arrived there in the afternoon.  Unlike most ancient towns, Carcassonne does not permit driving within the old city; all parking is in public lots outside the walls.  We had no problem in finding the parking lot, because we had studied google street view beforehand.

The B&B, Le Logis des Remparts, where we stayed the two nights was small but clean. The location was great, right in the old city. 

We spent the afternoon scouting the old city, looking for restaurants and interesting buildings.

On the second day, we spent the morning touring inside the citadel, and then we walked along the old city wall extending from the citadel to the main gate.  This wall includes five towers built by the Romans. 

In the afternoon we drove down to the new city for some groceries;  eating restaurant food for every meal can be tiring, even though we did find a nice little restaurant — L’Escargot — which was friendly and inexpensive.  We ate there both nights because the food was good and interesting