We are writing to you from the terrace of the guesthouse in Carcassonne,France.
It has an amazing view of the medieval city and castle as well as a view of the park and river just across the quiet street. The last few days have been some of the best.
Our time in Barcelona was as close to perfect as one could hope for. We spent our last day there touring the Aquarium and Picasso museum. The Aquarium was large and had a lot of exhibits of local fish. It certainly made me appreciate the Seattle aquarium all the more. It had no volunteers and no staff to answer questions. It also was not very educational however their shark tank was very well done and a highlight.
The Picasso museum was very interesting. Earlier this year we saw a traveling exhibition of Picasso’s work at the Seattle Art Museum and so we already had a good background on the artist and some of his more famous periods. However the Barcelona Picasso museum focused a lot on his early work which shows a lot of technical skill and then a particularly interesting collection of pieces 48 different painting that Picasso did later in life based on a famous Velasquez work. He focused on different figures from the original work and then painted them in different colors, styles, with different compositions etc.
And then comes the best part of our trip so far, the best meal Sean and I have ever eaten. There were a lot of restaurants in the city pandering to tourists. Pretty much every restaurant we could find boasted it served paella, sangria and tapas. (None of which are particularly associated with the local cuisine of Barcelona). We were looking for something a bit more authentic. After searching trip advisor we came upon Monteil it was a small Spanish restaurant in the fashionable neighborhood of Ribera.
We had a nine, that’s right 9 course meal that offered many local tastes of seafood and even a bit of adventure. The meal began with petit fours (olives, chorizo, mussels, and bread with premium olive oil each in a tiny tiny like pat of butter sized plate). The olive oil was actually olive green. Next came the bit of adventure. Raw oysters on the half shell. Neither Sean nor I have ever had them before. Sean described it “When you are diving under a wave and it is so strong it flips you over and you get a bunch of salt water in your mouth”. We both survived but I don’t think either of us have a taste for it. Next was the Salmon tartar topped with salmon roe. It was exquisitely rare and refreshing. Next arrived the duck liver pate. I personally had never eaten pate before and I worry to think how many weight watchers points it was but at least tiny plates mean I am watching my portions. Rare tuna on filo style dough was next and it was one of my favorite courses but then I LOVE rare tuna. The entrees followed fresh sea bass then medium rare beef tenderloin with roasted vegetables and pumpkin puree. A light fruit salad with orange mint sorbet cleared the palette before dessert which was a three layered chocolate mousse with hidden pieces of chocolate and hazelnuts. Every course was amazing (except for the raw oysters) and the gentle bodied pinot noir styled local wine paired nicely with most dishes. The meal was well over 3 hours long so our 10pm reservation meant we did not get back to the hotel until almost 2am.
Yesterday we had 3 trains to get to Carcassonne. The trip
went smoothly all but the last leg. The French rail system which is said to run
like clockwork had some sort of technical difficulty and all the trains out of
Narbonne were running an hour or so late. We hopped a different local train to
get to Carcassonne and arrived 45 minutes behind schedule but it was an anxious
period at the station. It was blazingly hot yesterday.
When you think of France you think of vineyards or beaches or Paris. But the Languedoc-Roussillon region is a desert. We even saw cactus from the train and a wild hedgehog scurrying the streets of Carcassonne late at night. Our accommodations in Carcassonne were exquisite a small bed and breakfast owned and run by an Irish man named Patrick O’ Sullivan if that wasn’t perfect enough. He was an electrician in Chicago for 15 years and four years ago bought property in Carcassonne a large house overlooking the river and the Castle and a restaurant that he turned into an Irish pub. Our room here was very large and not in the “large by French standards” way, an actual large room with an original fireplace and an ensuite bathroom with hand-crafted tiles. We walked all over the medieval city in the early afternoon once the sun went down a bit and went to the Basilica. It has one of the oldest pipe organs in the world and many stained glass windows. It is still a working church so people were lighting candles and nuns were bustling about.
The city looks like something out of a postcard but we are glad we are only here for one night. It would be hard to see much more without a car in the area. We had another large meal on the terrace overlooking the castle. The food was good, Sean was worried given the number of tourists in the area but the service was especially slow. Meals move much slower here but this was slow even by European standards. The local dish to the region is a casserole with a white bean stew with sausage and duck. Without the sea nearby the only local specialty ingredients are rabbit, duck, and truffles. We are back on the train today for Les Eyzies de Tayac, a French village of 800 that is the epicenter of prehistory in France. We are staying in a 12th century monastery converted into a bed and breakfast right off the river.
When you think of France you think of vineyards or beaches or Paris. But the Languedoc-Roussillon region is a desert. We even saw cactus from the train and a wild hedgehog scurrying the streets of Carcassonne late at night. Our accommodations in Carcassonne were exquisite a small bed and breakfast owned and run by an Irish man named Patrick O’ Sullivan if that wasn’t perfect enough. He was an electrician in Chicago for 15 years and four years ago bought property in Carcassonne a large house overlooking the river and the Castle and a restaurant that he turned into an Irish pub. Our room here was very large and not in the “large by French standards” way, an actual large room with an original fireplace and an ensuite bathroom with hand-crafted tiles. We walked all over the medieval city in the early afternoon once the sun went down a bit and went to the Basilica. It has one of the oldest pipe organs in the world and many stained glass windows. It is still a working church so people were lighting candles and nuns were bustling about.
The city looks like something out of a postcard but we are glad we are only here for one night. It would be hard to see much more without a car in the area. We had another large meal on the terrace overlooking the castle. The food was good, Sean was worried given the number of tourists in the area but the service was especially slow. Meals move much slower here but this was slow even by European standards. The local dish to the region is a casserole with a white bean stew with sausage and duck. Without the sea nearby the only local specialty ingredients are rabbit, duck, and truffles. We are back on the train today for Les Eyzies de Tayac, a French village of 800 that is the epicenter of prehistory in France. We are staying in a 12th century monastery converted into a bed and breakfast right off the river.
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