When's Lunch?

The French seem to take liberal doses of vacation-time, and so once again, during the last two weeks of February, we found ourselves with no school. This particular holiday is generally referred to in France as “les vacances du ski” and so, of course, all French families go in ski-zombie droves to the mountains. We, on the other hand, not being French, or zombies, headed south towards Spain. Our first stop was the French medieval, walled city of Carcassonne, near Toulouse.

Carcassonne looks like a re-created medieval fantasy, complete with a castle, two rings of fortified walls, turrets, towers and even jousting grounds, (nothing like a “joust” for some downtime relaxation after a hard day of beating back invading forces.) The thing is, Carcassonne is real. Built in, what must have been fear-filled times, the 11th and 12th centuries, the city has 52 towers and 3 km of battlements. To access the city you enter through one of the two imposing gates, cross the drawbridge, and step inside and back in time.

Looking up at the towers, with slit windows placed at varying levels for crossbowmen to ward off attackers, was so eerie and impressive that all Bronwyn could manage to say in admiration was, “When’s lunch?” And so, we completed the tour with an overpriced lunch, glad to see the girls were really taking the medieval experience to heart by rapaciously shoving food into their mouths with their hands.