Carcassonne - France

I woke around 7h30 and had breakfast with Owen and Sara. I have to admit that seeing Owen with Sara makes me want children soon lol. Not just yet though of course.

I thought I had lost my watch for about 10 minutes until I found it made into the bed somehow. I don't even wear a watch back home, but this 7 dollar walmart special has proven very useful so far.

We loaded up into the car at about 8h30 and took the short drive into the new city of Carcassonne where I explored yesterday. Owen works here and Sara has daycare.

I left my big bag with Owen again and headed out to the Medieval town and castle. The view of it from just before the river bridge is amazing. I sat there for a bit taking it all in.

As I continued I passed a few pastry shops. I finally gave into one. The owner didn't speak a word of English, but I just picked something that looked good and pointed( it was very good too haha). Man, I need to lay off the pastries though lol.

Next I went into the walls and looked around a bit. I paid about 5 euro to go into the castle itself and got a free 45 min. guided tour of the western walls. It was very informative even though it was only the second tour the guide had given in English haha.

What I did next is a bit of a secret. I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises, but if you must know, just send me a message.

After I had spent about 5 hours in the city I headed back to McDonald's in the new town. You can't beat free wifi, and you don't even have to buy anything for a code like you do to get into the bathroom. Kinda backwards right?? Oh well, I didn't complain haha. I got to call home with my PSP and do some more planning and scheduling with my iPhone.

It was around 17h30 when I left to meet Owen. We went pick up Sara together then he dropped me and my bag back off at McDonald's for a bit more wifi time. I was able to talk to Stephen for an hour and a half or so catching up on all the football I have missed so far.

Actually, today was a very good day for talking to family and friends. I talked to Ashlea, Mom, Dad, Kyle, both grandmothers, and Stephen. Thanks McDonald's lol.

I only got off the phone with Stephen because I wanted to see the castle and bridge at night. It was about 20h30 and everyone had said it got dark around 21h00. They were right. The walk took me a little less than 30 minutes and I arrived just in time. I went to the perfect place that Owen had told me about earlier. He was right. I snapped a few photos (although I haven't figured out how to take good night time shots) then kicked back and relaxed there for about and hour trying to cement the image in my mind.

Reluctantly, I left and headed out to the station to catch my train. I knew my way around so well at this point that I didn't even need the map.