Day Eleven: Sunday, Sept. 28th, 2008
We left Sarlat this morning in route to Carcassonne, it’s about a 4 hour drive and we made a stop along the way for lunch. We stopped at the Canal di Midi and Patrick brought a picnic lunch for all of us. We boarded a little boat for a one hour cruise and picnic lunch on the canal. We went through one lock on the canal and enjoyed being outside in the great weather. The hour long mini cruise went too quickly and before we knew it we were back at the dock and heading out on the road.
After lunch it was a quick 45 minute ride to the town of Carcassonne. We checked into the hotel, which was just outside the city walls, at about 2pm and by 3pm we were at the city walls with the group for a one hour walking tour. 
Inside the walls it is very touristy, but if you look beyond that, the town has twisty little streets that are fun to explore. After walking around and poking into several shops and checking out restaurant options for dinner we decided to go to Bar A Vins for an aperitif. We spent a couple hours there and got to talking with a couple from Canada who were seated next to us. They were very interested in discussing American politics. After a while I saw some tapas plates going out to other tables and they looked really good. Since we didn’t have a big lunch we ordered the grilled vegetables (eggplant, peppers, and artichokes) and they were a delicious addition to our beverages. 
At about 7pm we walked over to Chez Saskia (part of the Hotel de la Cite), it looked so cute, but unfortunately they were not open for dinner, another reason to return to Carcassonne! Instead we fell back on another Pudlo recommendation a place called Auberge Dame Carcas at 3, place du Chateau.
We were so glad we ate at this restaurant, everything was delicious. We decided to have the €15 menu and it was a lot of food. We both chose the pate with onion jam starter and since Carcassonne is known for cassoulet and since it would be our only chance for it, we both had the cassoulet for our main dish. It was excellent, served bubbling hot in a ceramic baking dish with duck, sausage, and white beans, it definitely tasted like a comfort food to me. To go along with the cassoulet we had a bottle of Rose. For dessert we both had the chocolate cake which was light and airy sponge cake but still very chocolaty. We finished the meal with 2 espressos. For all this the total was €45 we thought this was one of the best bargain meals we had the whole trip.
I really liked this restaurant. It was rustic looking inside and had an open kitchen. We sat inside but there was also outside seating.
I was a bit apprehensive when we walked in because there were not many people there, but within an hour every table inside and out was full. A couple of British gals were seated next to us and we had a very nice conversation with them during dinner. We walked back to the hotel and had an early night since we would be driving to Arles in the morning!
We left Sarlat this morning in route to Carcassonne, it’s about a 4 hour drive and we made a stop along the way for lunch. We stopped at the Canal di Midi and Patrick brought a picnic lunch for all of us. We boarded a little boat for a one hour cruise and picnic lunch on the canal. We went through one lock on the canal and enjoyed being outside in the great weather. The hour long mini cruise went too quickly and before we knew it we were back at the dock and heading out on the road.
After lunch it was a quick 45 minute ride to the town of Carcassonne. We checked into the hotel, which was just outside the city walls, at about 2pm and by 3pm we were at the city walls with the group for a one hour walking tour. Inside the walls it is very touristy, but if you look beyond that, the town has twisty little streets that are fun to explore. After walking around and poking into several shops and checking out restaurant options for dinner we decided to go to Bar A Vins for an aperitif. We spent a couple hours there and got to talking with a couple from Canada who were seated next to us. They were very interested in discussing American politics. After a while I saw some tapas plates going out to other tables and they looked really good. Since we didn’t have a big lunch we ordered the grilled vegetables (eggplant, peppers, and artichokes) and they were a delicious addition to our beverages. 
At about 7pm we walked over to Chez Saskia (part of the Hotel de la Cite), it looked so cute, but unfortunately they were not open for dinner, another reason to return to Carcassonne! Instead we fell back on another Pudlo recommendation a place called Auberge Dame Carcas at 3, place du Chateau.
We were so glad we ate at this restaurant, everything was delicious. We decided to have the €15 menu and it was a lot of food. We both chose the pate with onion jam starter and since Carcassonne is known for cassoulet and since it would be our only chance for it, we both had the cassoulet for our main dish. It was excellent, served bubbling hot in a ceramic baking dish with duck, sausage, and white beans, it definitely tasted like a comfort food to me. To go along with the cassoulet we had a bottle of Rose. For dessert we both had the chocolate cake which was light and airy sponge cake but still very chocolaty. We finished the meal with 2 espressos. For all this the total was €45 we thought this was one of the best bargain meals we had the whole trip.
I really liked this restaurant. It was rustic looking inside and had an open kitchen. We sat inside but there was also outside seating.
I was a bit apprehensive when we walked in because there were not many people there, but within an hour every table inside and out was full. A couple of British gals were seated next to us and we had a very nice conversation with them during dinner. We walked back to the hotel and had an early night since we would be driving to Arles in the morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment