The south of France has been incredible. I did less sightseeing than I expected, but it was more fun than if I had. Some friends let Heidi and I crash on their vacation, they rented a house just north of Beziers, we joined them on Wednesday night after a long and beautiful car ride from Paris.

(The Citroen we rented.)

On Thursday we spent most of the day hanging out, conversing, and playing with their awesome kids. Then on Friday I drove to Carcassone, a medieval castle/fortress. It was quite something to walk on walls dating as far back as the first century BC. And the town itself was less the tourist trap I expected, maybe we are really hitting the end of high season now.

I made dinner that evening for the adults, then our hosts shared their wine and we enjoyed some great conversation. This morning we bid farewell to France and trained it to Barcelona. I am sitting in the lobby using the first solid wifi I’ve had since arriving in Europe. Looking forward to getting out to see some of Gaudi’s buildings tomorrow morning, especially the Sagrada Familia. Will update tomorrow night.

One more from the train, just before crossing the Pyrenees.