Day 16: There is such a thing as Mediocre Cassoulet

Today was a day for parental relaxing and youthful hiking...all in and around Carcassonne. For our avid readers..that means you can simply take the new poll at the left ...look at the pictures...pray for us...and not expect many amazing stories...EXCEPT hidden in here is one gem of a perfect bite...given to me as a belated Father's Day gift from my oldest...  see if you can pick it out before you read about it...something for you to do anyway...

Lunch was in Carcassonne's Food Court, where there are about 10 restaurants and people, dogs, smokers, babies making lots of noise, etc....not really my idea of a good time:)

I could have been more highly focused on the specific bite offered up as the GIFT...but perhaps you can figure it out:)  This dish is called a Croque Monsieur (a melted cheese sandwich with ham on toast).  Some of you will have no problem here...remember it was just 1 bite, in fact it was not even a filling bite...but it was amazing...any ideas???

Peg had the classic Quiche Lorraine...not bad, while I had a 3 egg, ham and cheese omelet...spelled the French way...no picture though...

The group of 6 sitting and yawning in the first few rows were the A Capella members of the Moscow Choir, and they serenaded us with one free chant every 20 minutes ( we stayed for 2) that when the Basso Profundo belted it out, the whole place shook with glory...their CDs were 15 euros so we didn't get any:)

I waas trying to calm a bit of a stomach issue, so I had to sip on the new, while soaking in the old...

Elva, recovery for knees is expedited when you sit at this perfect reading bench...Peggy is saving you a spot!..We love you and are praying for a speedy, God filled recovery!

The men at dinner could not stop laughing when after my attempt at perfect French, the waitress said, "Oh you are American!"...

I guess my glare had an effect on Dan...but not on Ben...little works with him anymore seeing that he's the all knowing, non fearing 30 year old Gubitz masterpiece...

As I alluded to in my title, the cassoulet was very mediocre, but the walk back to the apartment was a highlight..

Dan, the consummate adventurer, was convinced he could break in from the side wall...but the words "I'm falling" were muttered just after this photo was taken:)

The awesome men...nuf said!

The rest of the evening was spent taking a semi-tepid jacuzzi, playing a load of Sporcle quizzes and finding out how much Ben knows about trivia, and more importantly, how fast he can type to get all the answers in the allotted times.  How do you think Dan did against him???  No spelling skills and slower typing makes for a fun evening of domination for Ben.  Tomorrow we head to Les Baux (Steve and Elva...we will not be eating at the Ousteau de Baumaniere...since the least expensive menu now starts at 155 euros per person not including most of the food)....  It will be fun walking around Arles, Avignon and Saint Remy in Provence nonetheless....perhaps some better food manana...Blessings!!!