The SUN!

I took a picture of it. We haven't seen too much of it and we certainly haven't felt it's warmth.

 

We got up this morning hoping for more sun and warmer weather in Carcassonne. It was off again on again sun and tornado like wind and rain. Never really experienced anything like it. It was still cool when the sun came out, but with the wind chill it felt cold. On the way out of town the temperature reading indicated on the dash of the car was 8 degrees C. If I'm not mistaken that's something like 45 degrees F!

One of my goals was to re-take a photo from a spot Anneka and I took one when we were last in Carcassonne 12 years ago. We wanted to do it yesterday but the weather was too tempestuous. We went this morning, twice, to do it and only on the 2nd attempt did we actually get it. It was at the height of one of blistering bouts of rain and wind. So, don't let the smiles of Anneka and myself fool you. Look at Sophie's face. She was freaking out. Anyways, it was a fun attempt to recreate one of our favorite photos and you can certainly see the difference between then and now. Anneka is as petite and beautiful as ever. We have two beautiful kids. The difference is me - way less hair and way more gut. Embarrassing...

 

Like I said, it was off again on again sun. Never warm, really. So, the pictures here were all taken in those moments when the sun did come out. We managed to get a few good ones. In general though, Anneka and I unfortunately think Carcassonne was a bit of a bust. Just too cold and rainy to really enjoy. Much of Europe is an outdoor experience, so when weather makes it impossible to be outside just soaking in the environment, then you feel cheated.

After about a 2 hour drive further east, we stopped at Pont du Gard, an amazing aqueduct built by the Romans and the largest and most well preserved in the world. Sun was out, temps increased to around the mid 60's and for the first time this trip we felt warm. We'll stay the next 4 nights in Provence exploring and hoping to reap a little more sun and warmth than we've had the rest of the trip.

Till later - Chris, Anneka, Soph and Lil