Tea in Carcassonne

The' a' la Cite'.
Always keeping my eye out for tea shops, we found this sweet little teashop in Carcassonne.
The owner is standing in the doorway. He loved sharing his tea with me and gave me several tastings. He sold Dammann teas exclusively, which is a very old French tea company.
I find their teas very smooth and flavorful. They are known for flavored teas, but did have a few unflavored teas also.

There were only two tables in the back of the shop just for sitting and sipping tea.

I thought for the tea lovers that visit me, you might like to see a peek at the shelves.
I ended up bringing home three teas from this shop, which I am very much enjoying.
Right now I have been sipping Oolong Hazelnut tea. I have also been enjoying Luxembourg Oolong tea, which has roses in it. I am saving the Christmas White tea for December; so I will share in December how that one tastes.

Now just a little "eye candy".
We walked by this shop many times and the colors always jumped out at me until I had to take a picture. There was all varieties of candies and cookies stacked in beautiful, neat piles. They were so beautiful you couldn't help but want to buy something here. I brought home pretty little pink, strawberry lollypops to give at the birthday tea party I did after returning home.

We will leave Carcassonne next week and continue traveling as we finish the travel tour to Dordogne River and then onto Barcelona. I hope you are enjoying the travels along with me. It definitely was a dream come true trip for me and one I enjoyed planning for a very long time.

Chateaux of Lastours

With the extra unplanned day in Carccasonne we ventured out into the surrounding country side. Approaching Lastours we see a castle on the hill.

There are four castles as seen from the belvedere viewpoint.
The castles are from the 11th century and were built by a father for his four sons.

It was beautiful warm day and we felt we were up for the challenge.
So up the hill we climbed. Walking past the spires of cyprus trees, climbing stone steps, and walking through a stone tunnel passage way we arrived at the top of the hill.

Stepping into the shells of these castles felt like stepping back in time.
I could picture the men in their military garb and the ladies in their dresses. I could imagine lute music playing and food cooking in the ovens.
What a spectacular view and touch with a time long ago.

Dancing in the Street

It was the first Sunday in October and their was music coming through the window in our B&B room as we were resting. It sounded like a band was playing outside.
I grabbed my camera and we ran to the sound of the band.
And there was dancing in the street.

People in costumes.
An angel on her papa's shoulders.

And more dancing.

There was even a donkey.
There were people laughing, dancing, and enjoying life.
I took their pictures not knowing what the celebration was.
We thought it happened every Sunday afternoon.

Returning to our B&B in Carcassonne we asked our hostess about the festivities.
On the first Sunday in October anyone that was born within the cite' walls celebrates and dances in the streets. They dress in costumes. The last bride and groom to marry within the cite' walls ride the donkey. The bride wasn't there this year, but the groom was on the donkey.
It was another serendipity not planned, but so enjoyed.

The Walled Cite of Carcassonne

Click on collage to see the details in the pictures.

Carcassonne, a beautiful medieval city from the 13th century was full of towers, turrets, and cobblestone alleys. We stayed at a lovely, small B&B within the city walls. Staying within the walls for three nights gave us the pleasure of experiencing the days and evenings walking the most amazing cobblestone streets and viewing the sights of the bustling shops and history around every corner. The old part of Carcassonne is referred to as The Cite'. It is surrounded by a wall and mote, just like we have all read in history books. The Cite' has had a wide history of military attacks and has been rebuilt after being destroyed by fire. It was like stepping into a dream and feeling a small bit of what it would have felt to live in a different time.

Simple Things

Whiskers on kittens

Sunshine on the grapes
Tasting grapes
A crispy apple
A child's smile
Lavender fields
Rain drops on Roses
Candles burning on a dark night
Flowers in the garden and in vases in my house
Lovely pot of tea
Cookies
Walking through the leaves
Wind blowing through my hair
Walking on the beach with the waves crashing nearby
Blue skies
Fluffy Clouds
Sunshine on my shoulders
A hug from a friend
Time spent with a dear friend or family
A good book that captures my imagination
Neighbors dog sticking her nose through the fence for a scratch
Listening to Christmas Carols starting in September


I want to break into songs of joy as I make this list.
These are a few of my favorite "simple" things.

Simple Things Announcement

Tomorrow Christina is hosting a blogging event at Soul Aperature
I will be participating in the event and departing from my travel report for the day.
I hope you can join us.
We will be sharing "Simple Things".
Look forward to sharing with you tomorrow.

Tea in the Garden

This is crazy, but we left Provence a day early.
It wasn't planned and we didn't realize it until we
were almost to Carccassone, France and we didn't
have reservations until the next night.
We went on to the B & B we had reserved for the
next night and she had one room left (out of only five rooms). The room was on the first floor and our lovely hostess said to get settled in the room, open the french doors, and she would bring us tea in the garden. What a welcoming garden it was. It was full of beautiful flowers and grapes ready to pick hanging over the trellis by the breakfast room. It was like sitting in the Secret Garden. It was an amazing serendipity to our travels.
By the way for the tea drinkers, the smaller teapot was for extra hot water to make more tea. And isn't that a pretty print on the teaware, it was from Scotland.
Have a wonderful weekend!