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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 16:34:08 GMT
Yes, in some of those small-towns-with-narrow-streets in southern France, there are some places where the crowds can barely squeeze past each other in the summer -- but it is totally unpredictable. Some days will be perfectly fine and others really awful, depending on the ebb and flow of tour buses and even individual tourists. Therefore I never avoid any place that I want to see, even if people claim that it is too crowded. "Too crowded" is something that I will decide for myself.
I am the salad eater of the family. There is no such thing as too much salad. I will not only empty the collective salad bowl when nobody wants anymore, but I will even finish the salad off the other plates if necessary.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 15, 2015 17:06:48 GMT
Oh my gosh...I thought I married the salad rubbish bin ( trash can)!! My husband adores salad and I always make enough for at least three even though we are the only ones at the table. He finishes the lot. Now that summer is here we have salad almost every single meal.
Tomorrow I will start posting our final bus trip to Carcassonne and the final day of the tour of the Southwest. Then it's back to Paris...
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 15, 2015 20:50:26 GMT
Salad is life.
Forgot to ask why you didn't like the Petits Pâtés de Pézenas. They certainly look good.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 7:56:29 GMT
Bixa - those Pates de Pezenas were warmed slightly but the consistency of the minced lamb etc was indeed like a sweet pate`. Hard to describe the flavour but I did not warm to it. When in Se`te I saw their pie claim to fame in the form of 'Tielle'- very orange from the tomato ingredient. We had a lovely fish lunch so were not tempted - but there is always a next time hey?! www.destination-languedoc.co.uk/articles/tielle-octopus-pie-from-sete-745-2.html
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 8:24:30 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 9:30:07 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 9:58:37 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 10:44:36 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 12:40:08 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 16, 2015 14:27:44 GMT
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Post by mossie on Oct 16, 2015 14:52:25 GMT
Thanks Tod for Carcassonne, a place I had always intended to visit, but never managed to.
And the horses lace bonnets are marvellous.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 10:36:39 GMT
I have mostly seen Carcassonne only completely out of season when it is completely deserted. While some people would crave this, I would like to see it some day with a bit more activity.
The location of your apartment next to République was perfect. The inside looks pretty good, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 17, 2015 14:44:39 GMT
Just wonderful, Tod, and so much variety. I love all your architectural features shots. The interior of Saint-Elizabeth, with its pre-Raphaelite(?) decoration is unexpected. Its little square, with shops & cafe & bikes is quite homey & inviting. Your apartment was very, very nice indeed! Was it fun having a little place all to yourself? Carcassonne is impressive & so much bigger than I realized. The restaurant you chose looks lovely & what a nice surprise to have the medieval musicians at the end.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 17, 2015 17:35:58 GMT
Thank you all - I picked out the apartment from the internet, not the area, if you know what I mean. Our last apartment was also within walking distance of Republique but close to the canal. Having the apartment to myself was lonely. I busied myself with constant use of the washing machine/dryer, and a bit of TV. I like watching TV in bed and here I had to be in the lounge/kitchen area. At least they had SKY but all other programmes were French or Pawn Stars dubbed into French...that was funny! I did not cook a thing. I made coffee each morning but went to the corner for breakfast. I think I had one meal at night bought from the supermarket nearby. I spent a lot of time walking around in the evening deciding on a place for dinner, or just sat and people watched with a nice glass of wine.
I don't think I would stay there again ( in any case the apartment is up for sale at 350,000euros), but I never knew what the weather was like outside. No sunlight and the only daylight from the courtyard of the building. My window in the bedroom was open all the time for fresh air which led to overhearing some ding-dong vocal battles between couples...and a crying baby. I wish I knew what she was screaming at him for...!
Carcassonne is the biggest medieval castlewalled city in France, but there are two ways of visiting it. The one I did cost nothing to go through the entrance and walk around, and the other cost something to enter the more intimate parts. I just couldn't see me achieving much in such a short time. For an entire day, yes, but not for a few hours. That leaves something for next time which is always nice.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 18:34:01 GMT
Carcassonne is not really a castle -- it is a walled city. It appeared as Nottingham in the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood.
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Post by lugg on Oct 17, 2015 20:06:10 GMT
Really enjoyed reading about your travels Tod and viewing your photos . In particular, Aude ( and close to) has a very special place in my heart and some of your photos brought back some lovely memories; it was one of the places my parents visited often over many years spending time with old friends who had a house in Belgarde and sometimes I visited them there, in fact one of my happiest memories of my Mum towards the end of her life was the time we spent together there.
I have never tried Petits Pâtés de Pézenas but they look good enough to eat.
So back to Paris;... looking forward to reading more about your time here.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 20:27:19 GMT
I have actually never been inside the Eglise Sainte Elisabeth ("de Hongrie") but have always been intrigued more by its displays of the Maltese Cross. Reading up on it, I saw that the Order of Malta is a quite tormented division of the Catholic church. In Paris, it is based in this church. It still acts as an NGO for international disasters, which is fine.
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Post by bjd on Oct 18, 2015 6:05:04 GMT
Nice to see all your pictures, Tod. I guess it was unusual for you to be on your own if you are not used to being so. I just spent a few days in Paris with a couple of women I don't know very well and realized I prefer being on my own, being able to choose where I go, when I want and not be stuck going into Galleries Lafayette and dragging around the various departments. There are pros and cons -- pros being that you have company for meals and in the evening, cons -- being restricted to someone else's walking speed and stopping all the time. But you took some really nice pictures, especially in the south of France. Carcassonne is one of those place we take visitors to the area -- it impresses everyone, but it's also good to know the history behind it. It was also a Cathar stronghold, like Minerve.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 18, 2015 8:09:46 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 18, 2015 9:41:03 GMT
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Post by bjd on Oct 18, 2015 15:25:01 GMT
Tod, that plaque on the wall says that Antoine Luitaud died "gloriously" at the age of 21 on August 23, 1944. This was during the Parisian liberation fighting, and FFI stands for Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, meaning that he was in the Resistance.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2015 15:41:24 GMT
I won't say that those soda siphons are "a dime a dozen" at the Clignancourt flea market, but they are really quite common there.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 19, 2015 1:43:29 GMT
bjd, you beat me to the young partisan.
I have a friend in Paris who would have been that young man's age then, who is still alive and very old after years as a partisan in Normandy. While perfectly lucid, he has settled into that sadness of having outlived all his friends and his ideals.
Tod, is that friendly-looking restaurant chez Omar? The party in the corner look like people who have known each other forever.
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Post by bjd on Oct 19, 2015 5:58:51 GMT
I thought of you last week, Lagatta. The women I was with are from Quebec and it was funny how many people stopped to talk to them, one guy even shaking hands saying, "hello, cousin". And the number of people who stopped when they heard the Quebec accent to say that they had been in Canada and how great it was there. Of course, it helped that one of my friends is very outgoing and would stop and talk to everybody and anybody.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 9:14:21 GMT
Thanks bjd for the translation!Can someone tell me what the next notice on the gate says?
Yes Lagatta, its Chez Omar. Definitely the best atmosphere and friendly service for a tagine etc.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2015 9:35:28 GMT
Can someone tell me what the next notice on the gate says? It just says that a certain alley will be closed on October 2nd while they tear down a wall.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 9:49:31 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 10:20:29 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 11:36:12 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Oct 19, 2015 12:18:11 GMT
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