Carcassone

We arrived at Carcassone around lunch time. The old city of Carcassone is the largest Medieval fortress in all of Europe. When you walk its streets, you feel like you've stepped back in time. The old city is surrounded by thick high walls with towering towers. It's a very impressive place though not as impressive as Mont St. Michel. For the most part, I enjoyed walking around the city. I wasn't impressed with some sword shops they had there as all they had was kitschy junk. I did have a pleasant lunch there. I had one mis-adventure here. The old city has modern free self cleaning bathrooms. Apparently, after someone uses the bathroom, the room automatically locks, the light goes off and water and soap are sprayed on the floor and in the toilet. Then, wind is blown across the floor to drive the water into in place drains which whisk it away. How I learned all this was when I ducked into one of their automatic bathrooms without waiting for it to clean itself. I started taking a leak when the lights went out and water started being sprayed across the floor. In a matter of seconds, my sneakers and trouser bottoms were soaked. Then, the wind started blowing across the floor which helped dry out my slacks a little. I finished my business and very embarrassedly stepped out of the automatic bathroom. I'll definitely remember how these things work after this mishap.

After our stop at Carcassone, we re-boarded our bus and drove to Nimes where we spent the night. The next morning, we'd drive the Roman aqueduct that was finished in 15 B.C. Stay tuned.