We arrived in Carcassonne...

...early afternoon. The wind was going full force outside. Good thing our host, Suri, volunteered to pick us up.

When Suri arrived at the train station, a mystery was solved. We were wondering if he was a man or a woman. All we knew was that he was an artist. As he opened his car door, I was a little troubled about what the apartment would look like. If his car was anything to go by, we were in big trouble. There were papers strewn everywhere, soda cans (yes, plural), and generally other types of trash. Oh boy!

The apartment was a big surprise. When Suri said he was an artist, he was not kidding. He re-purposed found objects and everyday things into beautiful decorative art. The whole apartment was decorated that way and he's not even done yet. Never judging a book by it's cover never ran truer. He was also very kind. He toured us around the apartment and showed us some of the things he was still working on. He saw that we were drinking lemon water so he cut up a huge lemon and put it in a pitcher of water for us. He also volunteered to drive us to the train station for our departure tomorrow.

After the house tour, we walked the one block to the medieval city and started exploring the castle. I wanted to cry. Carcassonne was something that Anj and I only read about and then we were there, exploring the keep, walking the ramparts, going up snd down the towers. It was wonderful! The main street has been converted into shops selling candies, ice cream, souvenirs and costumes. As you walk along the side streets, there are hotels, restaurants and mini-museums. We also were able to chance upon an old church that we didn't see in the map, or maybe we just didn't understand it? So we sat inside for a bit and said our daily prayers.

When dinner time came, we retraced our ateps to those places that we thought were interesting, only to see them closed. So, we went back to the main square which was lined with restaurants.. The restaurants' menus was pretty similar so you go where the French go or you go with your gut. :D We chose one that says they won an award or something this year and also has a recommendation on Trip Advisor. They weren't ready to serve dinner yet so we started with cold drinks. When they were ready, we ordered our meal and a bottle of their house rosé to go with. One other thing I loved about the place is that, compared to Paris, everything was so, so much cheaper. As in! We stayed until Anj couldn't stand the cold anymore then we headed back to the apartment to pack again and separate what was going on the walk with us and which ones will be transported ahead to Santiago de Compostela. Tomorrow, we head to St. Jean to get our credentials. :-D

We slept for 4 hours...

...before having to wake up at 2:30 in the morning. We decided to wake up early and get a head start since we had a train to catch at 4:53 am to Carcassonne. Since there was no metro yet that early in the morning, and we didn't know how far the drive is from Rue des Martyrs to Gare du Nord, we decided to play it safe. So, at 3:45, we headed down the street to wait for a cab. Apparently, it's not that hard to find a cab at that ungodly hour, and it takes 10 minutes to get to the metro station. Of course, ot wasn't open yet so our cab driver was sweet enough to drop us off at a cafe across the station, where he said it was safer to wait. So, our last meal in Paris turned out to be 2 decafs and a crepe with Nutella. :)

We got to our platform with time to spare but when we looked at the train schedule, the ome we were trying to catch was not there. The first available one leaves at 530 am. We were to learn later that there was a train that left the 4:53, but it was on a different platform. No worries. Good thing our next carrier was not until 6:58.

As we boarded the 530 train, I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing our love/hate relationship with trains was to follow us in Europe...

Today is our last...

...full day in Paris. We were to have three walking tours this afternoon, but after thinking better of it, we decided to skip the last of the three.

Having gone through Thursday's train fiasco, we were better prepared and knew which line to take to get us to Saint Michel-Notre Dame station. We got there about 15 minutes earlier and took the time to take pictures of the church

 There was a Filipino dude who offered to take our photo and asked us to take his and his wife's as well. Fair deal. At precisely 11 am, our guide, wearing the pink vest, showed up for our tour of the Left Bank and the Latin Quarter. Our first stop was in front of 2 French cafés, sitting side by side to each other. It wasn't to make a recommendation, but to warn us what to avoid and what to look for when eating out. lol! Afterwards he took us to Shakespeare and company, St. Julien's, Sorbonne University, the French 'Parthenon" and other points of interest along the left bank. Of all the tours we've taken, this was my favorite. Plus, the guide was witty and funny, without trying too hard. After the tour, Anj and I walked back to the park near St. Julien for a picnic lunch and to wait for our next walk . On this sunny Saturday, everyone seemed to have the same idea as it a few minutes before we were to find an empty park bench.

Afterwards, we went back to Notre Dame for our tour of, well, Notre Dame. We met another Filipino couple from Cebu but they didn't finish the tour as they had to catch another one of Montmatre. Our guide took us around the areas surrounding the church and explained the history, the design and the architecture of the building. He also took us around nearby surrounding areas within the proximity of the church. After the tour, we queued up to enter and pray for our petitions before looking around the inside of the church.

We went back to the park and stayed for a few minutes to savor our last glimpse of Paris in daylight before heading back to the apartment to start packing. :(