Monday, October 12
Justin returned yesterday after being at home for 12 days to get some flying in. So this morning we did a bit of school work, the kids showed Justin how well they did on Max learning his french numbers to 20 and Shelby working on her multiplication tables.
After getting organized we decided to head to Carcassonne for the day. During our research we found out it was the second most visited city in France. It was an hour drive from Servian, the weather looked a little iffy but it turned out being a beautiful day there. We first parked in the town but found out quickly that being a Monday, like most places in France are pretty quiet. So we hopped back in the car and drove closer to Hilltop Carcassonne, it is a medieval citadel famous for its 53 watchtowers and double-walled fortifications. The first walls of the upper town, Le Cité, were built in Gallo-Roman times; major additions were made in the 13th and 14th centuries. Château Comtal, a 12th-century fortress within Le Cité, has archaeological exhibits and a tour of the inner ramparts.
It was beautiful! We headed for lunch right away and the kids both had ham and cheese crepes. Justin had a duck casoulet and I had duck confit with fries, it seemed to be what most had at their tables so we just went along with the masses. After we headed towards the castle and the ramparts with many stops along the way.
Max walking between the double walls of Carcassonne
We stopped at the Cathedral where each of the kids lit a candle in memory of a lost loved one.
Lighting a candle at the Cathedral in Carcassonne.
Then many detours later we made it to the chateau. We headed straight in with not much of a plan and began touring the chateau.
Shelby taking in the view from the Chateau at Carcassonne
The Wilsons at Carcassone
We headed back to Servian after a quick stop at a pharmacy since Justin seemed to bring a North American cold back with him and Shelby has contracted the European cold virus. Shelby and I had a good chuckle tonight when I was putting her to bed as I asked how dad did in the pharmacy with the French speaking pharmacist, she laughed and said really bad. She said he like to use the words “je comprend” for “I understand”. I guess at one point the pharmacist was explaining something and he said “je comprend” and then he turned to Shelby and said “ok, no one speaks english here, what did she say?”. We had tears in our eyes we were laughing so hard. It wasn’t even that it was that funny it just paints a picture for most of our interactions here. I am having a wonderful time and it’s surprising how my high school french helps sometimes, and I do say sometimes very loosely, usually in reading something but it is funny how much of a foreigner you feel like here, there is no blending in. Even tonight I was picking up the pizza we ordered for dinner from the couple that runs the restaurant a couple doors down from us and the wife went to get my change and I’m left with just the husband and I just smile at him and stare at the wall because we’ve tried communicating before and beyond bonjour, au revoir, comme ca va there is not much else exchanged. But that is how it is, again it is another day that I am ridiculously proud of Shelby and how well she is doing here.
