Carcassonne is located in the Cathy country in southwestern France. It’s history is very long and interesting. See wikipedia – Carcassonne.
The city dates back to Gallo-Roman era. However, majority of the castle was constructed around middle ages and renovated 19 century.
Here are photos:
I visited Andorra, which is a country sandwiched between France and Spain. The native language spoken in Andorra is Catalon, similar to Barcelona. It is situated in the Pyrenees mountains. There are only 1 major route to access the country, entering from France and existing to Spain.
The night I arrived, it started to snow. The road is windy and difficult to drive under the snowy condition. BTW, it is easier to get to Andorra from Perpignan than from Toulouse, which the route is even more windier and narrower.
I had a good time there and test-driven the Snow mobile (le moto de neige) in the mountains. The city is similar to Gatlinburg, TN. It is a tax-free zone. So, gas luxury goods, and cigarettes are much cheap in Andorra than in France and Spain. The economy is booming with lots of new constructions everywhere.
While the mountains are not as spectacular as the Alps, there are definitely snow on the peaks.
Yesterday, I visited Nancy, France, which is a principal city in the Lorraine region. Sar-Lor-Lux was an area that was hotly contested between French and Germany. There was a story about the last lesson in French between it was ceded to Germany between the 2 great wars.
The city has a beautiful city center, called Palace Stainslas, named after the Polish King who was one time the duke of Lorraine – Talking about complex alliance and heredity. There are many beautiful wrought-iron gates with gold coating. While Le Musée du L’Ecole de Nancy was small and unimpressive, I had a good time walking around the city and getting some fresh air.
At the end of the day, I also saw a massive motorcycle protest against Sarkozy’s policy of raising retirement from 60 to 62.
Ryanair maybe known for cheat air-ticket; in reality, it is a trick. They nickel and dime you to death on everything including:
Plus, they give you really crappy service. If you don’t make to the gate 40 minutes before departure, they sell your seat to the highest bidder and leaving you without a flight. On top of the insult, they do not apologize.
Here is my story. I saw a special from Germany to France for 9.99 Euro, thinking it was a good deal. After all the fees, the ticket come out to 50 Euros. But the catch is that, the flight is not from the Frankfurt Airpot. Even though it is named Frankfurt-Hahn airport, there are 170 KMs between Flugehaufen Frankfurt and Flugehaufen Frankfurt-Hahn.
I had a flight from Dallas this past Monday. I thought that with 3 hours for the connection, that is ample time. WRONG, because Ryanair gives you, the customer, really shitty treatment. To make the flight, I took a cab, costing me 165 Euros. Even though, my flight is scheduled to depart at 9:40 A.M. and I arrived at the Frankfurt-Hahn Airport at 9:05 A.M. You see that is 35 minutes before take off. The gate agent was very rude and would not let me board. Why? Well Ryanir has already sold my ticket to the highest bidder. There is a a fine-print in the agreement, Ryanir can do it. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
And, there is not another flight until Wednesday. So, I am stranded here in a little town, without a hotel and flight for the next two days. With the new flight (103 Euro) + hotel (70 euros) + tax (165 euros) => I lost 338 Euros and 2 extra days. That is whole lot more expensive than fly directly to Paris and take the train.
What a piece of work Rynair is!!!!
So, buyers beware. You get what you pay for. And, cheap ticket may turn out to be a lot more expensive than you think.
Dijon is located in the Burgundy, France. It is a small town with 130,000 inhabitants. I spent 7 weeks learning French there. I had a fantastic time there. It was quite relaxing for me.
