From Carcassonne

Carcassonne

Cirque de Garvarnie, Pyrenees

St. Jean Pied de Port

Cafe Iruna, Pamplona

Getting the hang of Campervanning

Marques de Riscal,Rioja

Off to France next. We met Julie and Judy in Carcassonne for the evening and then headed to Toulouse for a lazier weekend that included laundry, admin and all the Sunday papers. Toulouse is a less touristy place, which we like. It's a university city and there are lots of expats because of the Boeing factory.
Once again we found very good wine bars and restaurants. One night we decided to go for the regional specialities, in a popular but very local restaurant. I ended up with pig's trotters and Neil got sheep's glands! Dessert is a must after that!
We returned to Carcassonne with Nick and Kerry for a few more nights after the barging. Dave and Kristina arrived from Bordeaux. Carcassonne is a must see city. It's old, walled city and castle are amazing. It's a UNESCO site. It's busy. And it's windy.
Heading out from Carcassonne, we drive into the Pyrenees and head up to Cirque de Garvarnie for a bit of walking. It's  beautifully picturesque but there's quite a lot of rain about and it's cold.
Dave and Kristina join us in Homer for a cosy dinner with Tim Minchin live at the O2 Arena to entertain us. When I cook and we eat in while traveling in Homer, Neil and I usually catch up on watching TV series on the laptop. Our travelling life doesn't lend itself to routines or much TV watching so we are years out of date when it comes to movies. But, as most of you probably know, Neil is news junkie and keeps up to date by reading a lot! If you are with him for a while he'll definately turn you onto Flipboard! Saint Jean Pied de Port is a pretty Pyrennean town on the El Camino de Santiago ( pilgrim's walk ) From here we headed over the mountains ( by car not on foot like the pilgrims ) to Pamplona in Spain. Despite the "Rain in Spain", we enjoy hanging out at Cafe Iruna like wannabe Hemingways, imagine the running of the bulls down the narrow cobbled streets and eat Rabo de Toro ( bull's tail ) washed down with a nice Rioja.
The next day it's a scenic drive through the Rioja valley with a stop at the epic Bodega Marques de Riscal for lunch at the OTT hotel designed by Frank Gehry.