Carcassone has it's own Yellow Peril

Sunday 27th May

It is Mothers Day here in France so a lot of families are out celebrating. Bonne fetes des meres to all mums.

Moving on today via Carcassone. The castle is still mind blowing - even with its yellow paint. Apparently it is some sort of art installation??? We didn't visit the medieval city again this time but instead wandered across the old bridge on the river that is now a pedestrian bridge. The wildflowers were in bloom all along the river.

I had to google to find out about the yellow.
Its supposed to show as concentric circles if you are standing in the right spot.
Nup! Doesn't do  anything for me.

These poppies were huge.

The main entrance to Carcassone - busloads of tourists kept arriving.

This building was at one end of the bridge.
Note the flood level mark in 1891.

Followed along the Canal du Midi for a few kilometres hoping to see some of the locks in action. Not happening here - they take a lunchbreak from 12 to 1 and we hit there just after 12. We continued to follow the canal hoping to find somewhere for lunch and eventually found a lovely restaurant on the canal front at La Redorte. As we ate lunch we could see clouds building and hear the distant rumble of thunder. Thankfully no rain eventuated as we ate lunch.

Canal boats in Trebes

This was one of a triple lock set - out to lunch.
The boats just wait - they were queueing up in the river.

Mother's Day lunch - well its going to be soon.
Prawns for me were yummo and Rob had mixed grill which was also good.

Parking was at a premium here so we parked the French way
- half on the footpath and on a corner.

We decided to head to our hotel via the town of Olargues which is in one of our beautiful villages in France book. This one turned out to be another stunner with its narrow laneways, crooked buildings and beautiful stone work. We also managed to get our first cherries for the season here.

Olargues - we love to wander around these beautiful villages. 
Up and down and in and out;
you never know what's hiding around the next corner.

After that it was straight through to our accommodation for the night. Well, what a find. As we drove up the narrow twisting road into the hills above the town of Lodeve, I was thinking 'Oh, no. What have I done?'. But what a room with character we had, looking over the whole town. This was a B&B with 4 guest rooms and the owners were lovely hosts. We'd scouted the town on the way through searching for dinner but found nothing so decided we'd just have to eat at the hotel. For me, I'd say it was one of the nicest meals I've had this time around in France.

A room with character...

...and a view from the terrace.