Despite the MANY bars we visit on our travels Beertje still holds my No1 spot...and you know what, it ALWAYS will 🐻

Quick question Filip (not sure if I've asked you this before) but what is the salami they cube up for their nibbling platter?


Cheers
Jay 

A great idea, and a nice looking page with some excellent information. 

Cheers! - John

Thanks for that Filip    I thoroughly enjoy posting about our travels (both home and abroad) it brings back happy memories when sharing and to grace the main page is always an honour 

You're right about our next trip away being quite soon, in fact it's in a little over 2 weeks time...we're heading back to Copenhagen (our 8th visit) for the mighty Mikkeller Beer Celebration - yes it's MBCC time 🇩🇰

Also just yesterday Linda booked a trip away in February next year for her 50th birthday, it's a destination she's long wanted to visit and so it's only right we do this milestone birthday justice -

We're heading to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. It's a beautiful green city that's obsessed with dragons and features a hill top castle and it's VERY beery...it's also described as having the beauty of neighbouring Austria but is as affordable as Eastern Europe.

This means many more reports to follow 

Cheers
Jay 

Thanks for that Filip 

Yeah it true that Affligem was everywhere as was another Heineken owned beer Pelforth Blonde








A bit more info on that last Pelforth picture, on the Wednesday evening we happened to stroll past a very locals looking bar so thought why not.

This bar L'Entracte (like almost every other) was filled with local residents and not an English voice could be heard. Luckily the bar owner spoke perfect English and she gave us the warmest welcome, we ordered a couple of beers and just enjoyed that "special" moment.

The funny thing is that both me and Linda said just how much its interior reminded us of Rudy's old bar Bierboom, maybe it was the pale wooden bar and shelving?

The lady owner stood on the left






We hadn't been in long when she locked the door and pulled the curtains closed, with around 6 other people still inside they all sat at a table next to us and stated playing cards as she told us "no problem"
To sit there accepted and not ushered out or made to feel in the way was another of those occasions we'll always remember...it's not about the beer, it's about that special moment.




Finishing out drinks I had a quick look at the time thinking it must be late, it was 9pm (quite a few bars in town close early)
we were let out with a cheerful goodbye




Back to the beery bars and quite rightly Filip the Jungle Taverne deserves its Belgian recognition 🇫🇷🇧🇪
We visited three times and thoroughly enjoyed them all, every time the bar both inside and out completely filled with locals (and a couple of tourists  ) all here to enjoy good beer.

La Trappe Blonde and Dubbel from tap




Cornet Oaked and St Bernardus ABT12




Another Belgian beer that we saw in quite a few bars was Paix Dieu Triple, seeing it from tap and it was an obvious choice






What a an awesome time we had in Carcassonne, a place we would definitely recommend to anyone - the food, the bars, the beers all make for a most memorable experience and speaking of food just across from our apartment was La Pipelette Boulangerie, to get up each morning and picking up a freshly baked baguette and pastries is yet another of those "moments" and all this for less than 7€




Cheers
Jay 

Hi Jay,
Wonderful appetizing report 
Quite amazing those cheap airplane rates and the great looking rustic appartment was also so affordable. Linda has done a really great job 
It's nice to see that Carcassonne is such a well preserved medieval city.
All those big walls and gates are so intact and seemingly untouched.
Note that Bruges once was also a fortified city. Quite similar to Carcassonne.


                         
As I am retired now, I have some more free time left. Actually it is 100% free time these days.
I have become co-moderator of the public Bruges Facebook group "Brugge ~ Vroeger en Nu" (Bruges, now and then)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/198089190226368/
Which puts the spotlights towards Bruges as of today but also the history about my hometown.
I'm quite active lately with posting old historic facts, incl. AI experiments never done before. Quite an exciting hobby really, and such a learning experience too!

It's quite some coincidence that you visit that medieval city of Carcassonne and in the mean time, I'm into the history of medieval Bruges at that exact moment !!     

Back to your report.
I'm not surprised that Affligem is inside. Alken-Maes ==> Heineken has a big feet into the French beer scene.
Hence, the Belgian Affligem is also brewed inside France and can be found everywhere.
Jungle and My Beer are indeed highly recommendable places, as I just added them both to the Worldwide Belgian Beer Pub Map. Thanks for the input Jay 
Ofcourse, France is still a wine country, and a good glass of French wine, paired with their delicious charcuterie is also a must-do.

Looking forward to the follow-up message Jay 

BTPint...... that double smartphone pour at MyBeer indeed was IMPRESSIVE !!!!
Congrats with your wedding anniversary Linda & Jay 

Cheers,
Filip

Cheers Filip 

What a fantastic three day break this was to the South of France 🇫🇷

Linda really did bag us an amazing deal, our flights from Manchester to Carcassonne were just £20 each way. She also got a cracking deal on our apartment, booking and dealing with the owner it was less than £170 for three nights and was perfectly located in the centre of town.

Entrance to the courtyard of our apartment







After a 1 hour 45 minute flight we arrived in town just after 1pm. So after a text book quick unpack we made the 5 minute stroll to the town square complete with impressive Fountain of Neptune for a quick snack and opted for a stunning French Onion soup and duck fat frites 🤤 washed down with an Affligem Blonde










Time to explore and the medieval Castle was a must do so may as well tick it off. It was a gentle 30 minute walk (all uphill  ) but it was worth every step.

What a beautiful place this is, perfectly preserved you really do feel like you're stepping back centuries














Now Carcassonne wasn't the "beeriest" of locations but that was no problem, we were here to celebrate our wedding anniversary and just relax, we did however find one or two little gems

The first (and one we visited most) was the Jungle Taverne, a tiny bar that housed just 2 small tables but had plenty of outdoor seating (complete with deckchairs)

Beer wise it had 6 taps and a healthy bottle list with the theme strongly Belgian (you can see why it was such a hit with us) and the owners welcoming and knowledgeable










Like I said it had a strong Belgian influence, in fact it was a Cornet ambassador...there were signs and glassware everywhere






Another great beery bar was My Beers, a large one room bar located a short 2€ bus ride away on a large retail park. At first we were unsure if we were in the right place but trusting google maps we soon found our destination.






It had 10 beers from tap and plenty of bottles in fridges and also beers available to take away.






Impressive two bottle pouring whilst answering the phone 








A little snack in the form of delicious chicken wings and fries






Buying some bottles to bring home I asked if I could buy one of their branded Teku glasses but they said I could have one for free as their gift...such great hospitality 


As a stroke of luck right next door was a large supermarket and boy do we like food shopping, this was one of the best we've visited









More in my next post

Cheers
Jay