We had breakfast in the hotel, then left Sarlot heading for Carcassonne. We started the drive in typical fashion, listening to the driving instructions of our car's GPS unit (which we named Phoebe). Now, Phoebe had a knack for taking us on some pretty out-of-the-way rural roads. However, when we turned onto a farmer's track and passed these cows, we really started wondering what was up with the GPS. Kimberley got into the preferences menu and discovered that Phoebe had "Dynamic Routes" checked on...this meant that whenever the unit detected road construction on a major route, she'd redirect us onto rural roads. Well, this had been the case since we picked the car up. Oh, the driving time we could have been saving.
Anyway, after unchecking that preference, our driving routes became more sensible. Three hours later we were in Carcassonne. We parked outside the old city and the hotel shuttle picked us up. Hotel de Cite was very nice. Here's a video of Kimberley's excitement with the room.
Outside the hotel...we went exploring. Unfortunately, the town is just a mish-mash of tourist kitsch, jewelry shops, junk and restaurants. We did grab a beer and crepe, which was not bad.
The view from our room. You can see the rest of the city sprawling outside the old city walls.
City walls.
The entrance to the main city castle "museum." A fair bit of city is restored to its 12th century configuration, but there is a lot of 1st century Roman structure integrated as well.
There was a cathedral, where we heard a Russian coral group.
Dinner in the hotel restaurant.
As evening drew into night, the courtyard outside filled up with bats. Very cool.
We had a little walk around in the evening after the town emptied out.
We slept with the windows open and woke up to bird song.
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