It is now 1am and we just hot back to the hotel. The day started when we took a 10am train in Csrcassone to Paris. The trains are very nice. It was a 7 1/2 hour trip that was very comfortable. In fact I couldn’t stay awake. The train lulls everyone to sleep.
Thank goodness for Marsha. When we got to Paris we got on a subway to take us near our hotel in the Latin Quarter. I would have been totally lost. Ben Franklin and other founding fathers stayed in this hotel when they came to France. We dropped our bags and headed out. We are a few blocks from Notre Dame so of course we went there
See pictures. There is a picture of the front of Notre Dame and when I turned around you can see the top of the Eiffel Tower just to the left of the tree. Of course there is a picture of our dinner and Marsha having some wine. Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower. I should mention that it is freezing here. People are still in their winter coats. At the tower it is organized chaos. Too many people and not enough room. There is a picture of Marsha and I at midnight on top of the Eiffel Tower. There is also a picture of Paris from the tower.
I am not adding everyone’s comments to the blog because I think it would just become too big. We can read them and love them!!’ Keep them coming. I am very tired. Will post more later. We also met several women from Singapore and a woman and her daughter from Kazakastan.
Bon Soir!

Today not much to do in Carcasonne. Do we did a other bus trip. The last bus trip was on a city bus. This bus was like a tour bus. We had to buy tickets at the train station and board the bus there. We went 25km to Limoux. It was cold and windy, and I mean cold. Limoux is pretty, but there was nothing going on there either. See picture of bridge in town. We went to a restaurant and had a kir royal to warm up. The bus ride was an event in itself. Small winding roads, hairpin turns and a bus driver who speeds plus oncoming traffic. No need for a thrill ride, this was one. Southern France is beautiful. Returned to Carcassone and had dinner. I had “tartiflette au reblochon” we need to get some sleep – early morning and train trip to Paris.

When we leaving the castle on the first day we left by the back door. It is a very steep climb up to the castle and a steeper descent the back way. There was a tourist tram coming so we decided to wait for it to pass. When the cars came into view it was full of Japanese tourists and they all took our picture! I wish I had my camera out because it was a Kodak moment for us.

We took the bus to Pennautier a suburb of Carcasonne to see a medieval festival. I think we were the only foreign tourists there. It was great fun with all kinds of entertainment all day long. One of the pictures is in front of a chocolatier. Waffle cones filled with fruit then covered in chocolate. And of course crepes were everywhere. The French people are so nice and helpful. With our limited French we seem to do OK. Even the bus driver on the return trip, who spoke no English, was naming hotels to make sure we got off at the right stop.

Thank you all for the messages. I can read them, so please keep them coming. I realized that I only had one picture on my phone of the castle. It is really really huge so here are more. The night picture was taken at 11 when it was dark enough to turn on the lights.