[Jay]

Well folks, our next scheduled trip away was to MBCC in May...however

It's our anniversary at the end of April and Linda has booked us a three day break to Carcassonne in the South of France.

It's Europes best preserved Medieval village dating back to the 11th century (complete with fortified Castle) and we're staying in the lower La Bastide area in our own apartment.

It should be a soothing break before the madness of MBCC 😄 hey there's even a local brewery 🍻


Cheers
Jay

[Trappist]

That looks like a fun three days break Jay!!
I've done Carcassonne when I was a child, travelling with the family.
A really beautiful medieval-walled city. You'll love it, and the weather is always much better in that mediteranian region opf France.
Hope the local brewery offers some great quality !!
We booked a week to south Italy in April, more precise Calabria (close to Lamezia terme), and yes there is local artisanal beer there to find and try too.
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

We're sure to have a wonderful time in Carcassonne, it's been 10 years since we visited that area of Southern France when we visited Toulouse WHICH is less than an hour away on the train so you never know 

You both have a fantastic time in Calabria, I'm sure we'll all be indulging in some great local food and drinks (I'll be bringing a suitcase full home)

Cheers
Jay

[Jay]

Hi everyone

We're back from the most wonderful 3 day break to the beautiful South of France.

It wasn't the beeriest of destinations (but we didn't miss out) and the food 🤤

I'll post more soon, today is our Anna's birthday so more celebrating 🥳 🎂

Cheers
Jay 

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
Good to see you safe back home form a most wonderful trip to southern France (Carcassonne).
The pictures on FB were GREAT !!!

As for us, we didn't decided yet what our travel plans will be starting from 26 June next.
Normally, we nearly always do Thailand, but the situation in the middle-east is not good, and traveling with a stop-over in that region isn't really the safest thing to do. It's about 1200 Euro for a direct return flight from Brussels to Bangkok. Last year, that was 750 Euro !! With Etihad, one clan fly for 650 Euro, but this also needs a stop-over at Abu Dhabi.
So, it is still an open question what we will do in two months time.
Actually, a three weeks in the belgian Ardennes are just fine too   
Waiting for the report Jay !! Thanks !!!
And ..... Happy belated birthday wishes to Anna from Katrien and myself.
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

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 

[Trappist]

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.


                         

Bruges around 1775

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

[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 

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
I thoroughly also enjoyed reading the second part.
It is like I was there, those pictures are so realistic.
But too bad they are not exhaling aromas. I'm sure with holding my nose on top of that delicious French breads dish, I would mouth water in no time. Actually, with only watching, I already mouth-watered
Great report as usual..... and already features on the main page.
Well, it's waiting for your next Holiday trip, which I'm sure will come quite soon.
it's always a pleasure when reading. A learning experience too.
Maybe you should do a YouTube vlog, which actually could work fine too I think 
Cheers to next adventures, and massive thanks for sharing over here.
Filip

[Jay]

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 

[Trappist]

Wauw Jay, that are some great promising future plans.
We've only been twice to Slovenia, but only to pass it direction Croatia. So, no stops. Long time ago already.
Highly looking forward to all of your future "beery" trips Jay
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

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

Well folks things have changed, Linda has kicked Ljubljana into touch and picked a different destination for her 50th birthday celebration in February - we're heading to Bilbao in Northern Spain, we've visited (and love) the neighbouring City of San Sebastián so I'm sure that Bilbao will deliver 100%


Before that however in November we're off to Kaunas in Lithuania, one of the Baltic countries (we've already visited Latvia)


But there's more because in just 2 months time it's Bruges and after missing out last year we're hungry for a return


Cheers
Jay 🇧🇪 🇱🇹 🇪🇸

[Trappist]

we've visited (and love) the neighbouring City of San Sebastián so I'm sure that Bilbao will deliver 100%

Hi Jay,
Great change !!! You'll have a great visit in Bilbao again. Damn sure 
As for us, we are just back home from a 24 days of Bretagne and le Vendée in France.
Everything went smooth and we had a great time over there. Too hot for sure, but at the last end the weather became more bearable at around 25°C. At some point the temperature in my car was 41°C.   
France is quite expensive for beer. From tap, they always offer the 25cl and 50cl volumes and some times the 33cl too.
You must expect to pay around 7 Euro towards 10 euro for a half litre of beer. Grimbergen blond being everywhere and that's a 10 Euro for one half litre from tap. 33cl bottles are about 6.5 euro. Not that cheap though.
Buying artisanal beers at supermarkets is the more affordable option, and that's what we've done too.
We've had 75cl triples of good quality at 4.00 euro only, which frankly you don't see here in Belgium. 75cl bottles are always overpriced here in Belgium 
The prices at supermarkets are quite cheap, but at restaurants and cafes/bars just the opposite. Very strange 
Anyway, we had some splendid French time with alot of healthy tasty seafood, paired with excellent local wines as the white Muscadet wine is a perfect seafood pairing.
What is sure is that I won't eat mussels for quite some time now. The Bouchot mussels are tasty, but enough is enough now
Cheers,
Filip
BTW: The Hangar de la Bière next door to our first hotel wasn't open, so that was a bummer.

[Jay]

Buying artisanal beers at supermarkets is the more affordable option, and that's what we've done too.
We've had 75cl triples of good quality at 4.00 euro only, which frankly you don't see here in Belgium. 75cl bottles are always overpriced here in Belgium 
[/color]

That's exactly what we found in Carcassonne, you could pick up some wonderful 75cl beers in the supermarket for a great price - I think this Belgian beauty was under 4€




It looks like you both had a fantastic time in France if your pictures on facebook are anything to go by (l liked the salt farm you visited 👍🏻)


Cheers
Jay

[Trappist]

Hi Jay,
Indeed we had a great time, although the temperatures were very high.
But we always had a rtefreshing half litre of pilsner close by.
Steps away from the hotel at a bar we also had Kasteel dark at €6.50 which was an affordable price.
Paix-Dieu was found everywhere, even bottled in the 33cl flip-flop bottles.

The salt farms were amazing !!!
Here is a footage I took in the afternoon at about 37°Celsius.
The thing is that when there is hot weather, there is more evaporation and as such more salt to harvest.

What a tough job this is !!!      RESPECT

We brought back one kilogram of salt at only €1.00
Salt that has a natural seawater flavor. Delicious !

Cheers,
Filip