Day 7 - Carcassonne
Today's post is going to be relatively short, because as I start this, we're five hours away from our wake-up. Tomorrow we cross the border into Spain, and spend most of the day on the bus, travelling first to Montserrat and its famous monastery, and finally to Barcelona.
Our sightseeing today included two more former Roman settlements: the crossroads town of Narbo (now Narbonne) and the massive stronghold at Carcasum (now Carcassonne); the massive fortress there served as an excellent defensive position for many centuries. The fortress was actually really cool: we got to walk on the ramparts and peer out of the corner towers. It was, unfortunately, raining, and not only was the inner castle chilly and less pleasant as a result, but the walled town was also quiet, and most of the numerous shops and cafes were closed. It seems like the kind of town in which, though most people live outside the walls, the majority of the socializing takes place within them.
I haven't talked much about food yet on this trip, so I will now. Although the first few days offered up some mediocre dinners (the chicken at the Cafe de la Musique in Paris was so dry, and the sauce didn't help a bit), the food since we left Paris has gotten noticeably better. We've had some great salads, some interesting main courses, and some absolutely delicious desserts - tonight's eclairs and Sunday night's brownies among the best. But the real fun has been in the lunches, which we get to choose on our own - I've mentioned the pho and the crepes; today a group of us went to a trendy little place in Norbonne, and I had the mussels Narbonnaise, which I guess are probably a local favourite. They were really tasty, and it's too bad we had so little time that I had to sort of rush through the last bunch of them. Tonight, the restaurant at our hotel in Carcassonne served us a delicious beef bourguignon with probably the best mashed potatoes I've ever had.
That's pretty much it, for now - I'm really looking forward to our little choir's performance at the abbey in Montserrat tomorrow. It's been awhile since I've led a choir in any capacity, and I've never rehearsed one who normally rehearses with someone else. Unless I'm self-evaluating incorrectly, I think I'm doing rather well in getting them to finish their phrases and fixing some inconsistencies of tuning, vowel shape, phrasing, etc. Not to mention conducting while singing tenor by myself.
Our sightseeing today included two more former Roman settlements: the crossroads town of Narbo (now Narbonne) and the massive stronghold at Carcasum (now Carcassonne); the massive fortress there served as an excellent defensive position for many centuries. The fortress was actually really cool: we got to walk on the ramparts and peer out of the corner towers. It was, unfortunately, raining, and not only was the inner castle chilly and less pleasant as a result, but the walled town was also quiet, and most of the numerous shops and cafes were closed. It seems like the kind of town in which, though most people live outside the walls, the majority of the socializing takes place within them.
I haven't talked much about food yet on this trip, so I will now. Although the first few days offered up some mediocre dinners (the chicken at the Cafe de la Musique in Paris was so dry, and the sauce didn't help a bit), the food since we left Paris has gotten noticeably better. We've had some great salads, some interesting main courses, and some absolutely delicious desserts - tonight's eclairs and Sunday night's brownies among the best. But the real fun has been in the lunches, which we get to choose on our own - I've mentioned the pho and the crepes; today a group of us went to a trendy little place in Norbonne, and I had the mussels Narbonnaise, which I guess are probably a local favourite. They were really tasty, and it's too bad we had so little time that I had to sort of rush through the last bunch of them. Tonight, the restaurant at our hotel in Carcassonne served us a delicious beef bourguignon with probably the best mashed potatoes I've ever had.
That's pretty much it, for now - I'm really looking forward to our little choir's performance at the abbey in Montserrat tomorrow. It's been awhile since I've led a choir in any capacity, and I've never rehearsed one who normally rehearses with someone else. Unless I'm self-evaluating incorrectly, I think I'm doing rather well in getting them to finish their phrases and fixing some inconsistencies of tuning, vowel shape, phrasing, etc. Not to mention conducting while singing tenor by myself.