French Tour Guides: Do not let Sam be in charge of your dog

Above is the initial encounter between Sam and Tom’s dog, Skip. Look at that body language – smart assessment, Skip! I have to give that dog bonus points for correctly gauging Sam’s ulterior motives and trying to get some distance from Sam. Below is poor Skip – just a few hours later, looking gravely concerned – renamed Jean Luc and dressed in (hopefully) fake Burberry. Bonus points, also, to Tom, for not kicking Sam off the tour.

For our last tour outing, we went to Carcassonne, which I’ll cover in a minute. But first you need to see this cathedral in Toulouse. It’s the Basilica of Saint Sernin, from the early 12th century. It’s a major stop on one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I liked it because of the stark contrast between the earlier-built sides of the building vs. the latter-built. The cathedral was constructed over four building campaigns, with ever-increasing usage of less-expensive local brick. Here’s the gorgeous east view:

And then here’s all that could be managed with the leftover cash way over on the west side. It doesn’t even look like part of the same building:

Okay, on to Carcassonne. The site has been in existence since Roman times. The fortified city of Carcassonne was a stronghold for the Cathars in the 12th century and the entire place was rebuilt in the 19th century after centuries of neglect. There are many more details to the history of this place but anyone looking for accurate history in my blog should know better. It is a treasure to see, though.

It is surrounded by 1.9 miles of double walls, interspersed with 52 towers. Ron and I walked the interior fortress walls and feel confident telling you that it’s unclear whether or not we can recommend it. It’s a lot of stairs and they utilize a strategic and tactical method we’ve come to know (starting way back with the Great Wall in China). Forget the cannons, the moats, the arrows: just make your stairs so uneven and random that, eventually, everyone will fall to their death.

Here’s Carcassonne from a distance:

Here’s Ron and Tom, getting a first look and then, below, a view from inside the rampart walk. This inner rampart is over 1500 years old.

My favorite thing about Carcassonne was the cathedral, though. The Basilica Saint-Nazaire, from the 12th century. I’m just a sucker for stained glass and the smallish (comparatively) cathedral has some great pieces. Here’s my favorite, which is between 500 and 700 years old:

And that’s it! Our first post-COVID bus tour is over. We had a little good-bye dinner last night (note about French dining times: they’re killing me – dinner started at 7:30 and ended when we abruptly abandoned our desserts midway through at 10:00 because everyone needed to pack.) I was sad to part ways with these people – most of them love to travel as much as I do – and it was perfect to head out with a group that loves to laugh and accepts the inevitable craziness that travel brings. Travel is my favorite roller coaster – thrilling beyond words.

If you want to see the tour we took with Road Scholar, it is here: https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/14253/southwest-france-bordeaux-and-the-perigord.

If you want to just go right to the source and email Tom about touring around with him, here’s his email: thaljantzenthomas@gmail.com. He made the mistake of sitting near me on the bus yesterday and I got a chance to pepper him with questions. He’ll design any sort of French tour you want and he’s licensed to drive/guide. He’ll go anywhere in France and I wholly recommend him for a fabulous trip.

I’ll be silent for a day or two. It’s time for me to take back my role as tour leader and get my little group down to Antibes. Two trains, six hours, 8 bags…fingers crossed for no bagages dangereux.