The old medieval walled town of Carcassone is amazing from the outside. Seen from the modern city below, its ramparts, turrets and double-walled exterior are quite beautiful and imposing. You can almost imagine what life was like here seven hundred years ago.

"I wasn't prepared for the amusement park-style snack stands."
Then you go inside. Have you been to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia? If you have you don't need to come to Carcassone. First, the whole thing was either extensively restore or rebuilt entirely about a hundred years ago. I knew that going in. What I wasn't prepared for was the amusement park-style snack stands, restaurants and (seriously) haunted houses inside. For the most part it looked just like the old center of any European city.

Most of the businesses in the old city were closed for the season and it was nearly deserted. English tours of the town's castle are given only in the summer so I passed on paying five euros for a French tour I wouldn't understand. The outside was cool, at least. And it was free.

"The dubiously restored attractions on the hill."
I was interested to see a place like this having just read Timeline by Michael Crighton. I hear the movie was a flop. Haven't seen it but the book was decent enough. It's set in the south of France in a fictional touristy Middle Ages site like Carcassone. I know what he was talking about now when some of the researchers in the story turned up their noses at the tourists flocking to the dubiously restored attractions on the hill. Lonely Planet calls Carcassone "Camp Cinderella." Now I know why.

I think I mentioned that I was expecting to have big language problems in France. That I hardly spoke a word and that the French are famous for not caring to help anybody who doesn't speak their language. At least so far, I've been very wrong.

"I can at least keep them guessing for a few seconds."
First, in just the a few days I've managed to pick up more French than I thought I would. I hardly understand anything, but I can ask a few basic questions and at least keep them guessing for a few seconds. Some basic stuff has come back from the French I took in high school and the similarities between French and Spanish are helpful. I even bought a Spanish - French dictionary rather than one in English.

But most helpful has been the people. Maybe it's different in Paris, but down south everyone has been so gracious... even after they find out I'm from the U.S. Even in the big city of Toulouse a cashier at a cafeteria saw I didn't understand her and patiently walked me to a place where I could leave my backpack while eating. I asked an old man in Carcassone where the tourism office was. I'd asked in French but was immediately in trouble. When he saw I had no idea what he was saying, he walked me two or three blocks to point me in the right direction. I was surprised when he talked about the bad condition of the sidewalks in his town, I was able to say in French, "No city's perfect."

It may also help that even the French seem to think I look French. I've mentioned all the nationalities I get mistaken for. Now that my hair's longer, French is the most popular guess. People look a little surprised when I tell them I don't speak French.

"A sweater with the American flag across the whole chest."
And about all that supposed hatred between the U.S. and France of the whole Iraq thing? This will probably change in Paris, but in three places I've been I've yet to see any anti-American graffiti like I've seen in nearly every other country. I also nearly tripped when I spotted a woman walking down the street in a sweater embroidered with the American flag across the whole chest. I've since seen three more. I don't get it, but good for them for not buying into political manipulation.

By the way, I've been hoping to find one of those t-shirts with the French flag inside a heart. A few floated around the U.S. in 2002 as kind of a protest to all the anti-French sentiment. If you want one, lemme know.

I just found some notes I'd made on Spain and never wrote up in an entry. Here's a sampling.

"It really is cheaper than water."
Wine is stunningly cheap in Spain. More importantly, good wine is stunningly cheap in Spain. There are young wines that are entirely drinkable starting at 50 euro cents. About 63 dollar cents. That's a typical 750 mililiter bottle. Step up to a blend from the regarded Rioja region and the price skyrockets to about two-and-a-half euros. About three dollars. A really nice varietal from Rioja is between five and ten euros. It really is cheaper than water. Bottled water, at least.