Recently, I’ve been reading two of Ken Follett’s novels, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. He sets the fictional story in a realistic Middle Ages town in England, which he calls Kingsbridge. Mr. Follett’s description of Kingsbridge Priory, the Earl of Shiring’s Castle, and the town of Shiring came to life for me today upon visiting Carcassonne, a medieval fortress town in southern France.
Carcassonne is located in the south of France about one hour from its border with Spain. Since about 700 A.D., the huge stone walls have provided refuge and fortification for various lords, earls, and their serfs. It is surrounded by two massive outer walls with towers and barbicans, a moat, and a large drawbridge all designed to ward off attacks.
Inside the walls are the restored remains of a thriving medieval city. It is easy to imagine medieval life going on in Carcassonne. Merchant’s shops, pubs, craftsmen and noble houses are easily identified.
There is an inner close, a castle within a castle, where the lord of the town apparently lived. Enclosed within these secondary fortifications is a modest palace and church.
After touring the town, I decided to find a spot for dinner. After rewalking the town to assess dining possibilities, I referred to “TripAdvisor.com” and decided upon “Adelaide Restaurant.” The GPS feature on my iPhone led me directly to the restaurant, where I was lucky to get a table.
This being my first night in France, I was ready for their rich cuisine. I decided upon a Fois Gras starter with fig compote and greens.
My main course was their duck confit cassolette, which included a roasted duck leg and its juices, cooked in a pot with white beans and sausage.
Dessert featured chocolate mousse and raspberry ice cream. This was all washed down with a splash of the local red wine from Corbieres, just down the road from the restaurant.
There are several scenic train routes running through the Alps of Switzerland. The “Golden Pass” route connects Lucerne, Interlaken and Montreaux and offers what many think to be the best scenic alpine train excursion.
I began my journey at the halfway point, in Interlaken. After a beautiful ride along Lake Thun, I transferred to a cog-driven train. Here we climbed the 76% grade trek through alpine meadows to the high point of the expedition. Then we began the journey down to Montreaux offering beautiful vistas of the Alps and Lake Geneva.
I think Steinbeck said it like this, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” After this day of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I totally agree! I thought I had organized a good travel plan for leaving Barcelona and arriving in the remote village of Carcassonne, France, but instead, I ended up with a day of misfortune.
My first mistake was not making an advanced reservation on the train from Barcelona to Narbonne, France. Now, this was not because of poor planning, for I had visited the train station the day before my travel to get information and a schedule. However, to book the ticket for the next day, I would have had to wait in a que for two hours or more. The “same day of travel que” was only a few minutes. I reasoned that it made no sense to waste two hours now, when in the morning, I could get the same ticket in ten minutes.
As it turned out, there were no seats available on the first leg of my journey, so I had to wait three hours in the Barcelona train station in order to catch the next train to France.
I hung around in the McDonald’s, located in Barcelona’s train station, for three hours. HA! I even bought a Coke Light and french fries, just so I could take advantage of the free WiFi!
Finally, at 1:00 p.m., I boarded my train and was on my way to France. We had to change trains at the Spain/France border, which was a major upgrade from the slow “Spain Train” to a sleek and fast TGV Train.
I arrived in Narbonne, France at 5:00 p.m. I had had enough foresight to prebook a rental car at the Narbonne station, but upon arrival, the rental car office had closed early this Saturday afternoon! Ughhh! I found the Hertz rental office was still open and was able to secure the only car remaining, a tin-can Ford Fiesta. No worries, so I headed off on the superhighway toward Carcassonne.
About forty-five minutes later, I was safely tucked into my hotel in Carcassonne. Nestled between the hill and vineyard, I was ready to do some exploring.
Sixty kilometers southwest of Toledo stands a vast and wide-open plain on which is planted grains, olives and grapes. If, while visiting Toledo, you have a car, it is well worth a trip to visit the small town of Consuegra. It is here you’ll find the famous “Windmills of Consuegra.”
I’ve often seen images of these windmills dotting the pages of “La Mancha” travel articles, but until now, have never had an opportunity to visit. There is a swift new “AutoVia” super-highway leaving Toledo and traveling right by Consuegra. By car, it takes about 40 minutes.
Approaching Consuegra from the north, you can see the windmills from a distance, across the plains.
It was a bit of a challenge trying to locate the road up to the windmills. My GPS was useless, but we found signs pointing us to the Castello and the windmills to be helpful.
The windmills became famous in the 16th century when Don Quixote was first published (BTW – I read somewhere that Don Quixote is the second most read book of all time, after the Bible). These windmills were introduced by the “Caballeros Sanjuanistas,” who brought these machines to help mill grain. They were handed down from father to son. There are still three operating windmills, but only for tourism. All fell out of use in the 1980’s when less expensive forms of milling were introduced.
My friends and I stayed in Segovia last night. A small medieval town of about 60,000, it offered a stress-free beginning to my adventures in Spain and Portugal. An added plus is that it is at an elevation of about 3,000 feet so the weather was very cool and pleasant.
My GPS was useless in the narrow cobbled streets, but the signage was pretty good at directing me to the main plaza. I learned a long time ago not to drive into a medieval town without first walking it. So, we parked in the modern underground parking lot and I walked the pedestrian-only streets to my hotel. Then, I got in the car and drove the route which I was instructed by the hotel staff. If you are interested in the mistakes I’ve made and how I learned to first walk, then drive read my blog entry “Too Much Room for the Road.”
Infanta Isabel Hotel proved to be a good find. Located on the pedestrian-only Plaza Major, we found a friendly reception staff, clean and updated rooms, and a perfect location from which to explore the town.
One of the main attractions in Segovia is the Roman aqueduct. At one time, it carried water over nine miles from the Río Frío to the Roman fort in Segovia. Today, it is amazing to see a remaining section of the aqueduct that is 2,500 feet long and 100 feet high. Roman engineers and workers constructed this section 2,000 years ago out of 20,000 precisely cut, granite stones, which were stacked without the aid of any mortar.
The Cathedral sits right on Plaza Major and dominates the skyline. Since construction began in the Renaissance (1525-1768) it contains a variety of architectural styles, mainly Flamboyant Gothic. However, the church is capped with a dome more closely related to late Renaissance and Baroque church buildings.
I took a stroll from the aqueduct to the Alcazar, trying to get a “feel” for the town’s layout. About 8:30 p.m., the place came alive with locals and tourists taking to the streets for the paseo, the nightly stroll and visit time.
This being our first day in Europe, we were hungry and ready for bed by 8:00 p.m. However, people tend to get a late start on the evening in Segovia (and most of Spain). By 9:30 p.m. we could hold out no longer and decided to eat at “Caesars,” the restaurant associated with our hotel. Dinner was delightful, sitting on the main square and watching the “town” go by. I had a fine meal of gazpacho and a local specialty, roasted suckling pig.
Recently, I’ve been reading two of Ken Follett’s novels, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. He sets the fictional story in a realistic Middle Ages town in England, which he calls Kingsbridge. Mr. Follett’s description of Kingsbridge Priory, the Earl of Shiring’s Castle, and the town of Shiring came to life for me today upon visiting Carcassonne, a medieval fortress town in southern France.
Inside the walls are the restored remains of a thriving medieval city. It is easy to imagine medieval life going on in Carcassonne. Merchant’s shops, pubs, craftsmen and noble houses are easily identified. 
This being my first night in France, I was ready for their rich cuisine. I decided upon a Fois Gras starter with fig compote and greens. 
My main course was their duck confit cassolette, which included a roasted duck leg and its juices, cooked in a pot with white beans and sausage. 
Dessert featured chocolate mousse and raspberry ice cream. This was all washed down with a splash of the local red wine from Corbieres, just down the road from the restaurant.
