Day 15: Goodbye Grenoble...Hello Carcassonne!

What a joyful time loading the tiny car with our baggage...especially since we left 4 large bags at Chris Mackanic's to be picked up on Sunday.  Ben is taking the train to Milan then Como, and meeting up with us, in the loaded car at The Alberghetto de Marianna....since we couldn't fiT everything AND everyone in the car at the same time.  Steve and Elva...remind you of the 12 cases of vin rouge about 8 years ago????  Creativity always wins out!  So as we headed out on our way southwest to Carcassonne, we had 2 short stops to make.  The first to a cliffside town in the Vercours mountains called St. Marcellin...known for its oooey, goooey, dripppy...cheese...

The cheese we were able to dive into when we arrived in Carcassonne late in the afternoon....it wasn't as oooey, goooey and dripppy as I had hoped, but delicious nonetheless...For lunch, we arrived in Pont en Royans where they make those itty bitty ravioli covered in shaved cheese, and where the houses are hanging over the cliffs...The Burlinghams had a pizza covered with these little ravioli when we were together 8 years ago or so...we ate in one of these overhanging rooms, that had bars on the window and a few flies in the dining room.  This time, we decided to eat outside:)))

And we were thrilled to find out that again, these little ravioli taste treats lived up to their reputation...

 But arriving at Carcassonne, and finding our hotel with no maps or directions...just a few wrong turns, 2 wrong explanations and 1 correct one, we took a walk and had a brief dinner around the castle before diving in tomorrow for the whole day of sightseeing.  This town is where Ben received one of his forehead scars 21 years ago during a Bastille Day (July 14th) Fireworks Celebration (the country's 200th Anniversary of the French Revolution).  While we waited in blazing heat for 5 hours on a tiny bridge with no where to go (double entendre), Ben was playing a few hundred yards away with a baby sitter when a gate crashed in on his head.  Yes blood was everywhere, his blood, and there was no way we could or would miss this once in a lifetime display of pyrotechnics for a little blood...as a result...no stitches, and a nice memorial scar...this also may help Jim understand why being in the middle of events with large crowds, especially international ones, is something I try to avoid....(Olympics, Tour de France, Il Pallio, World Cup, Denios....)

 At dinner, Ben didn't even believe there was a famous actor in the house, eating just over his left shoulder.  you know, one of those "right dad...I really believe it's the guy who played Tobias on Arrested Development"...(and by the way, totally coincidentally, I think the memorial scar is visible in this photo:)))

 So after Ben fakes left and then right, to avoid suspicion of staring at this famous actor, he gets a look at this guy and says "Oh my gosh, we are really sitting right next to him...thanks for pointing that out dad!!!"

 Between the famous, "in the house" sightings, my world famous Cassoulet arrived...confit of duck, Toulouse sausage, and white beans...loved to a Nemy-like crisp!  Priceless!!!

 Then if you blow up the photo below, you'll see that even Dan was in disbelief when he was made aware that Napolean Dynamite was sitting just over his left shoulder...

When will these young men learn to trust dad????  A little Scrabble right now, (update:  Ben killed us with the Q, Z and X and words like ZLOTY, while Dan's UNTAINTS, and my INDEEDY were painfully challenged by Ben..albeit correctly!) then bed and tomorrow hoping we can get some of those great autographs from stars we see....by the way, you'll want to double click on the pictures above to validate the star sightings for yourself:)))