Chris’ Travel Blog

Take dad to the train station for 9:34 train to Perpignan. Then walk around town, see the inside and outside markets.

12:10-13:50 take train to Toulouse. Grab a chicken burger at Quick restaurant. Wait for train to Paris. The TGV I catch from Toulouse to CDG2 aeroport actually goes through Narbonne and then goes up th east coast as opposed to the train we took at the beginning which took a more westerly route. So I didn’t need to take a train to Toulouse. I wish I knew that before. Also between Carcasonne and Narbonne there was a fire so the train was delayed by 1 hour. I did not have an assigned seat on the TGV (probably due to the long journey) so I had to move seats a few times at different stops. Arrive at airport around 23:25. Look for info on how to find shuttle but none seen. I was told they stop running around 23:30, so I’m trying to hurry. I go into the Sheraton hotel, which is attached to the airport, and as the concierge for directions. Out the entrance and up the stairs. I just need to wait a couple of minutes and the shuttle comes by. Quick check-in and then to bed.

Wake up at 8:00. Go by bakery for sandwiches and arrive at bike rental at 8:45. Have an easy cycle to Gruissan with the wind at our banks. See the beach and the Mediterranean Sea. The wind seems to be stronger now. So we head back to Narbonne. The cycling is much harder on the way beck. I figure it was about 30-40 km/h head wind. Get back to Narbonne around 12:30. In total we did about 32 kms. Return the bikes. Go to internet cafe as we incorrectly interpret the closing time of 2:00 as 2 pm instead of 2 am. Thinking we don’t have much time we quickly check e-mails, later on we see people in the internet cafe and it becomes clear what time it closes on Saturday’s. We then go to Musee D’Art in the Hotel du Ville. Stop off at a cafe. Then sandwiches for dinner. Watch a rugby game at 18:30 in the local stadium. RC Narbonne Mediterranee versus Mont de Maison. It was close at halftime, but by the end “les jaunes” humiliated Narbonne 47-18.

Wake up at 7:30. Catch 8:34 train from Carcassonne to Narbonne. TGV trains seem to always have assigned seating, but it appears to be a free for all like the TER trains this morning, so we sit where we could find some seats as we were getting off at the next stop anyway. Arrive just after 9:00 to a very windy and chilly Narbonne. Look for hotels around the large church but are unsuccessful, so we go to the tourist office in order to get more info. Find a nice 2 star Hotel de France, we are told that we could only have the room for 1 night, and perhaps for longer, but that we would have to wait till the afternoon to find out. Later we’re told we can have it for the the 2 nights, and dad extends it for a few more days after I’m gone. 62 euro/night. Since the weather is so bad we rent a car for the day and go see castles in the nearby countryside. We rent from Avis a Nissan Micra for 55 euro/day, which runs on gas (an anomoly in Europe). Diesel is cheaper than gas here and gas is 1.43 euro/litre.

We head to Cucugnan Chateau de Queribus. Eat lunch here. Dad doesn’t want to walk up the hill to the castle so I borrow his jacket to survive the windy conditions. Tour ruins where the winds gusts must be 100km/h or more at the top, I could easily get blown over if I’m not careful and going through the entrance was a struggle as the wind was so strong. Then Duilhac Peyrepertuse Chateau de Peyrepertuse. Villerouge-Termenes. Then back to Narbonne. We used 197 out of the 200 free kms.

Check into the hotel. Then grab a sandwich dinner and eat in the hotel room. Have an Entre Deux Mers white wine which is quite good.

Sleep in till 8:00. Pick up 2 jambon beurre sandwiches from boulangerie. Arrive at bike rental at 9:00 am. Pick up bikes and start by 9:15. See 2 paths on either side of Canal du Midi inside Carcassonne, but the one we chose quickly turns into muddy single track. Turn around and go back to last bridge and go the side with the correct path. The canal takes a big loop without going very far towards our final destination so it takes about 1.5 hrs to get to Trebes. It also doesn’t help that there is a strong headwind and the trail is packed gravel at best, narrow dirt single track sometimes. We continue on the canal till a few kms past Marseillete. At Blomac head south on small roads to Douzens then west through Moux, Conilhac-Corbiere, and finally to Lézignan-Corbières. In total about 40 kms. Dad got quite tired for the last 10 kms. Probably a combination of poor trail, wind and hills. Arrive in town at 14:30 and wait for next train at 16:30. Bit of a strange schedule due to train repairs.

In the train we meet a French couple who had just completed cycling the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to the end, in total it was 279 kms and took 24 hrs of cycling over 4.5 days. We had a difficult time with the bikes on the train as there was no area for them, so we were forced to cram them in the end of one car with 2 other bikes. We return the bikes. Grab some sandwiches for dinner. A quick beer in the square. Then head back to the hotel for dinner.

Wake up at 6:40. Grab some breakfast along the walk to train station at local boulangerie. Catch 7:30 train from Toulouse to Carcassonne. Arrive at 8:30 in Carcassonne. Try to find hotel, but are unsucessful. We end up at tourist office and get info on hotels and bike rentals. Then check into Royal Hotel for 70€/night. Drop off bags then go to bike shop to see about renting a bike for the next day. Se another Velo & Oxygen motorcycle shop but they do not rent bikes. So go to Evasion 2 Roues which rents nice bicycles for 15€/day. Then go to train station to buy tickets from Narbonne to Carcassonne in anticipation of biking there the next day. Grab some sandwiches for lunch and head to the walled city. Walk around the tourist trap town which is an Unesco world heritage site, the 3rd we’ve been to this trip. Take a tour of the inner castle. Have a beer then head back to hotel for a quick nap. Stop by internet café. Try to find a restaurant in the new city, but nothing is open. So we head back to the old city where it’s certain something will be open. Eat at La Table Ronde. I have salade Lauragaise and Cassoulet au confit de canard et saucisse de porc and for dessert cheese.

Take metro and bus to Cité de l’Espace and arrive at 9:45. See MIR space station replica, visit exhibits and see planetarium show on stars and the egyptians. Run to catch the 13:30 bus. Grab lunch at Capitole area boulangerie and eat in the square. I help a lady with a chain that fell off her bike. We also notice the ladies and their huge purses. Then we go and try to find the Musée Des Augustins which is located on rue de Metz but we walk right by it thinking it’s close to place des beaux arts which is close the the canal du midi. We eventually find it and see the sculptures and paintings from the 14th to 20th century. Stop at a Nicholas wine store and get a Sauternes wine. Stop at a café for a Kronenbourg and a water. Drop off bags at hotel and figure out plan for the next few days (2 days in Carcasonne, 2 days in Narbonne, then I travel back and dad keeps going south). Go by train station to buy tickets, but the line is too long so go and get dinner first. End up on the same street we got dinner last night and go into Brasserie. We break a good rule of thumb, which is if there is no one else eating in a restaurant there may be a reason. I order the paella, dad gets lamb. Both meals arrive quickly because they are just reheated in the microwave. They weren’t bad, but not great. Go back to train station to buy tickets, the line is a bit shorter now. Head back to hotel and watch Liverpool beat Arseneault 4 to 2.