On Thursday evening, I took the train to Carcassonne (about an hour ride from MontP); Aunt Pauline, Uncle Steve, and Bella greeted me at the station (Jamie's mom's sister, husband, and their adorable dog - sidenote: they are from England and holiday for part of the year in the south of France ). That night, we went out for yummy pizza and headed back to their house in Soreze - about 45 mins from Carcassonne. OMG it was so beautiful - what I think of when I picture a house in the southern French countryside and more! It was very home-y and I especially loved the balcony that overlooked the Montages Noires (pic below doesn't do it justice - too foggy).
We woke up early on Friday morning and drove to Barcelona to meet Jamie and Kim at the airport, and to their surprise, Aunt Pauline and Uncle Steve's son Tom had met them at their connecting flight from London to Barca...family reunion!! After we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and had a celebratory toast, we headed into the city. We walked down Las Ramblas, the main drag in the center of the city, and walked through the large market where we found tons of fresh fruit (ate fresh pineapple), vegetables, meats (graphic!), seafood, you name it. Las Ramblas dead-ends at the Mediterrannean Sea - gorgeous! And you can see the mountains on the opposite side of the city - mmm! We had tapas for dinner - Spanish, cheeses, olives stuffed with anchovies, croquettes filled with chicken and cheese, meats, fried calamari, etc. Very simple, yet very, very tasty. Jetlag finally caught up with J and Kim, so we called it a night (after gelato).
Saturday - Happy Birthday to Aunt Pauline! We headed into the city, visited a cathedral, popped bubbly al fresco, visited La Sagrada Familia (a cathedral designed by Gaudi), Jamie and I headed to the top of the cathedral towers for a sweet view of the city, ate churros, grabbed a frappucino of course, and shopped (I got cute gladiator sandals to replace the ones Ma$e ate/shit out/re-ate). Jamie and I drank Sangrias the size of our heads! They were amazingly fruity (a lot better than our homemade attempt, Dad!). For dinner, we ate at a cute restaurant outside in a square downtown.
We left Barcelona on Sunday (I will definitely go back there someday) and all drove back to France. In Carcassonne, there is an old castle from the Middle Ages that looks like it is straight out of a Disney fairytale. Today, there is a town inside with really cute shops, small streets, restaurants. We ate at a restaurant inside the chateau - salad with toasted goat cheese and honey to start - I'm now a fan of goat cheese! For the main course, most of us had Cassoulet, a regional specialty consisting of a stew/soup of white beans, pork, sausage, and sometimes duck. It was probably the best thing I've eaten in France thus far - the broth was so flavorful and the meat was tender and hearty. We farted all the way back to the car, and had a couple hours to kill before I was to board the train back home. However, because I just couldn't leave this wonderful family, I decided to stay for the night in Carcassonne!
Jamie's aunt and uncle are the SWEETEST people!!! They and Kim took such good care of me this weekend, far more than I could've expected, and I am so grateful for that. They treated me like part of the family, and I love them. I hope to see them again (maybe in England!) before this semester is over. Aunt Pauline, Uncle Steve, Tom, Bella, Kim, Jamie - thank you a thousand times! These are memories I'll never forget.Adios amigos (the extent of my Spanish skills).
2 comments:
can you be certain Ma$e is to blame for the sandal snafu? who knows what JR does with his free time. i just think it's a pretty big leap to take especially from across the pond.
We are green with envy. Loving hearing about your adventures. Merci Aunt Pauline, Uncle Steve, Tome, Kim and Jamie for taking care of our cherie!
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