For the second day in a row, we woke up and packed a bag to visit the castles at Lastours. And, for the second day in a row, the bus there did not come. So we decided to just hop on the next bus we saw, taking it wherever it went. Buses in Carcassone are 1 EURO each way, covering a roughly 50 mile radius around the city. Based on the title of the blog post, you may have guessed that we caught a bus to Limoux.

Limoux is a small town that is somewhat famous for its sparkling white wine, Cremant de Limoux. The bus ride there wound through vineyards and hills with the snow-capped Pyrenees in the background. We had lunch at a little place called La Carabena and had the plat du jour, which was a giant pork chop, salad, side, dessert, and wine for 14 EURO.

We then set out to tour the little town. It was a laid back place, we came across about 150 men playing Patenque in a small park. It's a game similar to Bocce and it drew a pretty large crowd for it being 3 pm on a work day. The city has several great bridges over the River Aude, several small cathedrals, and a picturesque square ringed by restaurants and cafes.

At around 5 we headed back to catch our 545 bus to Carcassonne, only to find out that that bus doesn't run on Wednesday (it was a Wednesday). Of course it didn't. You go to Limoux on a Wednesday, you stay in Limoux. Remembering that there was a train station, we angrily walked that way, hoping trains ran on Wednesdays. They do. So we rode that thing back to our temporary home and celebrated with some wine.

I wish I could say my visit to Lastours took place but it never did. That devil train never arrived on any of the days we were in Carcassonne. Though we've left that city, we have one more day there in a week and I have a car. Take that French public transportation.