Day 4

We had breakfast at the Hotel, checked out, and then it was off to Mass. After Mass we went to Confession. Confession took a while since there was no real line or organization, it was also my first experience with a face to face set up, I don't think I cared for that too much.

Since today was our last day in Lourdes we went to fill our bottles with Holy Water, and I also had a few candles to light. On our way back to the Hotel to collect our bags we hit every shop around. Once we had our bags we headed towards the train station. After buying our tickets the 3 of us sat down to eat the sandwiches we picked up along the way.

The train ride to Carcasson only took about 2 1/2 hours. Once we arrived and figured out where our Hotel was, we headed to it, on foot, dragging our luggage across town. It seemed painful at the time, but it was part of the fun.

We were all very pleased with the Hotel, it was very cute, and the lady at the desk was helpful and friendly. Once we got cleaned up, our trek to the Fortress began, it wasn't easy, but it was worth it. It's the largest medieval fortress in Europe, a walled city full of hotels, restaurants, and shops. We walked around the outer part of the city for most of the evening, well, until we had to look for food. The restaurant we picked looked very nice, but it took almost 15 minutes (maybe longer actually) to take our order. The food was very good. To start Sharon and I had an almond pate (it was really good!!), and Paul had onion soup. For the main course I had braised pork with white beans, Paul had a steak, and I think Sharon had turkey, it's all a little blurry.

After dinner it was time to walk back to the hotel, but first we had to go the a bridge for an awesome night time view of the castle. Paul took a great picture!!

Then off to bed.