Day 8!

We slept in and met Jon and Kelly out front by the fountain, Hunter had to work today so we were off to explore the area. We started our day looking for a pastry shop and an Internet cafe. We found the bakery, there is one of those on every corner, but the internet shop was never found. We walked and walked and eventually gave up.

Our to do list for the day was to find a castle, eat some lunch and rock climb. We loaded up the car and started out for Carcassonne, a near by town to explore.

When we got there we found just the perfect castle to spend our day. It was fun to pretend what life was like and where we would have lived. Art wanted to work security for sure. I would have probably ground flour or raised the children.

Inside the castle...

The town of Carcassonne...

After walking around and taking in the views we decided to head into the civilized part of the town and have some lunch. The little restaurant we found had the best French cuisine. We ate up and decided to head back to Caste, Hunter's town to find his school where he taught. The men were going to climb with the community climbing club at his school. We dropped them off for a good climb while Kelly and I went to the market to buy dinner. We learned a thing or two about grocery shopping in France. First of all you can buy your milk on the shelf there. They have hundreds of different kinds of yogurt, cheese and meats. When you purchase your fruit or veggies you must weigh them and place a price sticker on them (like what we do when we go to the deli) and then bring them up to the cashier to purchase. We made the mistake of not weighing ours and got one nasty look from our cashier who I'm sure was annoyed at us for not doing our part. She marched off and weighed our stuff and then brought them back to us. I felt bad for not following the rules but there was no real way we could communicate that to her so Kelly and I just gave her sorry eyes.

We went back to the school and picked up our men and off to Hunter's home to make dinner. We made some noodles and bread. It hit the spot and then off for crapes at a local pub. They were really good and was a great way to end our time in France. I felt like I got to see the "everyday" France while we were there. Driving through the French countryside, staying in a small town with no real tourist attractions and meeting Hunter's friends made for an enjoyable trip. Thanks Hunter for your hospitality and patience while were there!

Here are some random pictures I took...


I love all the front doors...

What happens in France...stays in France!