Another wonderful start to our day with a fabulous breakfast at Maison Laurent. Soon after breakfast, we took off for Mirepoix, about 35 km from where we are staying. Mirepoix has a large market square surrounded by half timbered two story buildings with deep arcades, a carousel, and a very large cathedral. The cathedral had a most unusual painted ceiling of dark blue with stars. A lovely village! There was a lot of activity with people out and about. We enjoyed our short visit.
We drove from Mirepoix toward Carcassonne through some of the most beautiful countryside we've seen in France. The area from Fanjeaux to Montreal was rolling farm land dotted with vineyards, the Pyrenees mountaintops to the south and the wide valley of the Canal du Midi to the north. Several hilltop villages were visible along the way. Just exquisite!
We drove through the center of the city of Carcassonne to the medieval Cite, considered the most perfectly restored medieval town in the world and protected by UNESCO. It is out of a fairy tale with turrets and stone walls surrounding a good size village. The site has been important since the 2nd century BC and was in it's prime in the 12th century. The Cite was restored in the 1860's, led by Violet le Duc. It is a stunning site!
With all this travel and only a couple of small suitcases, we had to do our housekeeping late in the afternoon, so drove to Limoux to do laundry. We had a snack in the market square while our clothes were washing and walked along the Aude River while they were drying. With clean clothes, we're ready for the next few days adventures!
