Day 51 Carcassone

We bade our lovely B&B Le Valduc in Auderghem goodbye when Y picked us up for a sweet serve of coffee and chocolates at their beautiful flat. We checked Ryanair again to ensure that the flight was still on and were relieved that it was - no disruption from the volcano. We departed for the airport at Charleroi just after 11am, with Y driving, as he had done for the previous four days.

As with the trip to Bruges several days earlier the route was along very good motorways although today our view of the farming countryside was blocked by a solid wall of very green trees on either side of the road. We were surprised at how far away Charleroi is. The difficulty/cost of getting there is one of the externalities that Ryanair does not highlight in its advertising. The airport itself is labeled Charleroi Brussels Sud, which made me laugh - a long way south. We arrived there three hours early on airline advice and with P's help managed to jump the checkin queue. Our bags were slightly overweight but the checkin woman told us it was no problem, which made us feel nice.

P&Y stayed with us so we had a few drinks to help pass the time. Again on airline advice we went through security early. Just as well as they were very thorough and consequently slow. The X-ray man queried what my GPS data logger was and accepted my explanation but pounced on my little pocket knife which I had (again) forgotten to pack. It was contraband so I had to relinquish it, but I wanted to make it unusable by breaking it before handing it over. When I started to do this he protested, saying it was dangereux, which of course it was - for my safety.

We arrived in Carcasonne in sunshine and we soon had our bags on the airport shuttle bus. The journey into town was further than we imagined but it was a pleasant ride. The bus dropped us off only metres from our hotel. After checking in we decided to do a tour of the new town and look for a restaurant for dinner. On our walk I found a tobacconists where I was able to buy a replacement almost identical pocket knife, so the boy scout was happy again. On Y's recommendation we opted to try the local specialty, cassoulet. It was okay but we probably would not have it again.

Our hotel has wifi, but at €4.50 per hour I passed. The restaurant had free wifi but not for the first time I could not get it to work - ca ne marche pas.