Allons-y!

We are writing this from the Hotel Adonis in Carcassonne, France! 

We left Barcelona this morning (the local Spaniards there pronounce it Barthelona…..thoth thillly Thpaniardth).*  We left by bus and travelled over the Pyrenees mountains to the city of Collioure.  Collioure is an old French naval base right on the Mediterranean coast.  The village was painted in part by the artist Matisse, who thought that the village could use some color, not necessarily color of nature, but color of “feelings” (we think).  The kids were able to walk around the village, eat lunch, and play on the beach (dipping their tootsies into the Mediterranean Sea).  The beach here is not like what we think of as a beach in the U.S, as there is no sand… at all.  It is made up of rocks and the water is pretty cold until August or September.  The students were very entertained in the village, watching celebrations and listening to music, as it will be the 68^th anniversary of D-Day on the 6^th of this month (last year’s trip had us in Normandy, on Utah beach, on June 4^th :^).  There was a ceremony commemorating this event near a war memorial in their local park that some of the students watched.

Afterwards, we rode another two hours on the bus to the city of Carcassonne.  While on the bus, Pauline had the students get into groups to talk about some of the paintings that we saw in Spain.  They were to perform a skit (which we did right before dinner) selling their painting to millionaires (played by Pauline, Andrea, and me).  They had to review information about the painting, and creatively present their painting and convince us to buy it. 

We arrived at Carcassonne and went immediately to our hotel, which has rooms bigger than my first apartment, with separate living areas and kitchenettes. Once we settled in our rooms it was time to go to the walled fortress.  We learned what it was like in the days of yore, and why the fortress was built the way it was; with the moat around it, as well as inside around the chateau, and why there are long slits in the walls called arrow loops (ask your kids about these and see if they were paying attention. :^).  Then after our tour, we had more time to shop and roam the fortress.  What were once living quarters are now souvenir shops, creperies, and candy shops, so there were plenty of places to browse.  At the main entrance, for some unknown reason, a swarm of bees were migrating from somewhere to somewhere.  We had to go through them.  It freaked out a few of the kids but most of them bee hived (ouch…that joke stung a little). 

Then it was on to dinner at the top of the fortress in a small restaurant where we dined on salad for an appetizer, roasted duck as the main course, served with small fried potatoes and a side of ratatouille (the kids knew this because of the movie :^)), followed by a dessert of crème brulée with a syrup-like sauce.  It was one of the best meals yet, and surprisingly enough, they all gave it a try.  They have all been very brave with the food on this trip.  We have been VERY impressed with their gastronomical courage.  It was also one of the best meals for conversation (when we ate our first dinner in Madrid, the kids were very quiet, but now they are all talking non-stop like they have been friends forever). Once dinner was over, the students roamed the fortress until nightfall, then we walked back to the hotel (it was about a five minute walk as we are REALLY close to the fortress).

Tomorrow we will be riding on the bus again to Toulouse to see the city there for lunch, then we board a train for Paris.  The ride should be about 6 hours or so.  We’ll try to write more tomorrow night, although it might be minimal if the train ride is uneventful :^).

Bonne nuit!