Day 81...Ah, blessed France! - 15th September

Woke up around 9 and got out of there. Drove to Figueres which was an unremarkable poor Spanish town. Parked, and walked to the Dali Museum. It was amazing. Dali himself had converted the old town theatre into his museum, and the whole thing was a maze and mess of his creative genius. Outside was bright red, with a weird croissant design, with oscar statues and eggs on top. Inside was just like being inside his mind - surreal.

We were surprised however, at all the different types of art he could do. We know him mostly from his surrealist desert scapes, melting clocks and melting faces etc. But he was so much more than that! He did so many different styles of painting, from realism to cubism to renaissance style, to ink sketches and sculpture. We both marvelled how much art - both in style AND quantity - could come out of one man. He was very talented.
There was one section where counches and a fireplace and other things were ensembled in a room, an dyou had to climb up some stairs and view them through a reverse magnifying glass framed by curtains. The glass made everything small, so the curtains became hair - and the furniture became a face. I just cracked up laughing "he's an idiot" I cried. Other parts you'd put in a coin and the art would move. In the jewellery section - was his actual crypt! The top room had his own art collection of other artists work. I swore I saw two Marchel Duchamps - the mona lisa graffiti'd with a moustache, and perhaps nude walking down staircase as well. But I'm not sure. I thought those pieces were in other museums, but its not like Dali would have fakes or replicas in his own valuable museum would it?

We spent a few hours in there and both enjoyed it thoroughly. Nathan appreciated the varying art, and its sheer amount from one guy. It wasn't just the same thing over and over. He was very talented. (BTW - nate says "awesome". Thats the quote I got.)
After that, we shot out of Spain. When we crossed the border and saw the small blue sign for France - we cheered! The dirt and rocky scenery tranformed back into the low mountain area of the Pyrenees (we came up the more eastern side).

We drove to Carcassone. Dominating the town was a MASSIVE castle. Like none of which we've seen before. Others were private castles - this was built to hold the city within. It dominated the rest of Carcassone which spilled around the outside as well. It had an old town which was quite cute outside as well.
Nate missed the TIC (I won't let him live THAT down haha) so we spent awhile driving around frustrated. We eventually found it and got a cute cheap place on the outskirts of old town. We dumped our bags and wandered in and had some drinks in a cute little square. Aaaah it was so good to be back in France! We couldn't stop grinning. The town was nicer, the drinks cheaper.
We tried to find a restaurant for dinner, but the town was dead. The good one recommended was fully booked. Although we had planned to do it the next night, we decided to go inside the castle tonight. And it was in there that we found the action! Walking up to the castle was so exciting! It was originally a Cathar fortress with a village inside. THey were then slaughtered by the Catholics, then it was an 18th Century slum before in the 19th century it was partially restored and the turrets capped off. It is a culmination of Cathar, Roman, Visigoth and Frankish fortifications over the centuries. I loved it. It is now a massive tourist attraction. Even though the top half has been restored, it was good to see it, after seeing so many ruins. It gives you a good idea of back in the day.

Inside - my imagination just exploded. Rickety cobbled streets inside castle fortress walls - dominated by castle turrets. I saw feasts of suckling pig, goblets of wine, lepers, dresses, markets, geese, hats... I just ran away with my mind, assisted by actually BEING in that scene. Oh, it was just so wonderful , I couldn't stop smiling.
We picked a cute little restaurant that looked like it was from yesteryear and got a fantastic 3 course menu, nice and cheap. The quality as 1000 times better! Nathan tucked in, grinning and pleased to be back in France. Its also weird - its comforting to go back to a language we 'know' instead of fighting it out in Spanish. We know a bit of French now, and can get a handle on things.

We had the best pate we had EVER eaten, juicy duck and creamy creme caramel, all washed down with a delicious jug of red. After the shit fare in Spain, I did a little dance in my chair at every course. I relished in the thoughtt that I was consuming this traditional fare while sitting in a tiny village in a castle!During the day, Carcassone is filled with hundreds of tourists, but for tonight - it was just here for us the the few staying here.
Gorged full, we staggered a looooong way back home thorugh cute quaint streets that felt like the 1500's. Even the rain pipes finished with gargoyole faces at the bottom. There was an undercover pool/club near our hotel. We'd fallen asleep when in the wee hours of the morning - it closed and we were woken up by lots of voices outside our hotel room. Mainly though, I heard a voice that I couldn't tell was male or female, singing an eerie beautiful song in Latin.