in search of shade
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009by Rach
hovering just above the coast near Narbonne, looking out at the Mediterranean Sea
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were desperately in search of sun. Today we, with the rest of the population in the south, looked instead for shade. When the mercury had jumped up past thirty before ten in the morning and the sky was deep clear blue with only a few wisps that could hardly pass as clouds waiting to be burnt up we all knew it was going to be a scorcher. And it was. Our thermometers would register another eight-and-a-half degrees before the day was out, and it would be almost twelve hours before it would drop below thirty again. This is exactly what we came for!
We also came for Carcassonne. Friends had been given the game not long before we left NZ and we had played once. We had been given some money for Christmas presents, some of which went on an Asian chess set, and the remainder on a European purchase: the Carcassonne game. When in Berlin we saw the mega-set with lots of extensions for half-price. The pictures on the box alone would have been enough to convince the children that this would be a great way to spend the money, but the people we were staying with had a game, so they were able to try it out; it was declared a winner. We umm-ed and aah-ed about having to carry such a big box, and after a week made the crazy decision to purchase.
In wet and wild Northumberland we were thankful! Carcassonne wiled away the hours. And we’ve kept playing. Every time we are somewhere for enough hours to be caught up on journalling and clothes washing, the enormous box comes out.
So Carcassonne became our French destination.
We had heard it was a working medieval town and expected to see a lot of artisans plying their trades. Apart from a very bored-looking eagle handler and horse-n-cart drivers, the only crafts were ready-made and for sale. It was less of a museum and more of a boutique-y and cuisine-y assortment. That is not to say there was no museum – there were, in fact, a few, each with their own entrance fee. There was also a fee for walking the ramparts and another for going IN to the castle, and yet another for the jousting show. You could pay to take a cart ride and you could pay to take a twenty minute ride on a land train with audio commentary, or you could just enter the walled city and wander around. This, as you can probably imagine, was our choice. Actually, we intended to get a feel for the place and then see if we wanted to do any of the pay attractions, but by the time we had finished our wandering (and had taken in the castle from the outside, a good portion of the wall, the cathedral, the alleys and a local delicacy, the crispy sugar-coated Oriellettes), all we were interested in was water and shade. It was a scorcher, remember. So we left the throngs relaxing in the shade of trees and umbrellas and enjoying the French cuisine, we left the throngs milling through the narrow streets looking at exquisite linens, slabs of nougat, leather-bound journals, handmade jewellery, ceramic plaques, children’s medieval dress-ups and delightful inkwells and dipping pen sets; we were satisfied to have seen the actual walls that are illustrated on the game pieces, the actual turrets, the actual countryside, the actual cathedral (etc etc, you get the idea). The game will never be the same again!
Introducing the medieval walled town of Carcassonne:
Time on the road: need to check Jboy13’s record!
Distance covered: 114km
rayres