3 june 09 wed

so what have we done...sunday we went to the cite. the old part of carcassonne: the medeivel city. it was raining until about noon. then it was great. we toured the castle this time. really interesting. the views from the fortress were 30-40 miles. the church was open and is spectacular.

the house is tiny and dark. all the neighbor kids stop by. they love to try english. we were doing vocabulary monday. last night the 10 yr old from around the corner brot his english workbook. they learn daily and have quizes. pretty good but the written is easier than spoken for me too! they stay up till about 10 pm playing in the alley. there were parents out there too visiting with neighbors. regina feeds them chocolate and cookies too. she's not a teacher for nothing!

yesterday we went to minerve. the city is on a point where the canyon turns back on itself. in 1210, 140 cathars were burned at the stake. it is really pretty and isolated. we went to caunes minervois to see elisabeth who carla, anna and i stayed with 2 years ago. i had a framed picture of her and her son lars. he is now living in australia. her husband is still the same...sleeping at 11 AM after too much wine the night before.

her house is still for sale at 850,000 € with 4 ensuite bedrooms and 3 attached apartments. the pool is nice and has a view of the valley. such a deal!

we've been driving the heck out of the region

narbonne was very pretty then off to rennes le chateau of da vinci code fame. up at the top of a lane and 1/2 car wide road i knocked off part of the spring housing - not important parts- on the way up practicing like parnelli jones. the church is small but quite decorated. just as odd as the book makes it out. alot of new ager shops up there too but it really is a hamlet 20 min from the stores of couiza. not a place i'd need to see again.

today was biezers and bize minervois. the cathars were slaughtered there in the 1210 crusades. some 20,000 killed by the pope and king of france in an unholy crusade to add the aude to the kingdom of france. the famous quote is "kill them all and let god sort out the christians in heaven".

in bize we went to the olive coop. i only spent 30€ this time. the pincholine olives are the best.

on the drive to biezers, regina got her first look at a town market. it is quite big stretching for 20 blocks or more! didn't spend much.

our biggest fight of the trip has been how to get the f...ing gasoline into the car at the credit card pumps. in 5 trys it hasn't worked yet.

more later...xxxooo