title Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse and The Lac de la Cavayère, Aude, France - 10th August intro A couple of days in and we decide it's time to go a bit further out, following up on a suggestion from the house owner to visit the mediaeval Abbey town of Lagrasse, some 40km away. But before that, there's time for a wander around the markets in Carcassonne. After that, it's time to do a bit of swimming at what is generally known as Carcassonne's beach - the Lac de la Cavayére, just a few miles outside the city. The swimming is fantastic as it's fresh water, calm and most of all actually warm. imgp3203 Someone has badly parked their washing machine imgp3204 The boys play in a fountain imgp3206 Isobel's got something stuck in her sock imgp3207 The markets of Carcassonne, in Place Carnot imgp3208 Harry stands near some giant melons imgp3210 A fancy fountain in Place Carnot imgp3212 More fruit stalls, and the ever-present pharmacie imgp3215 Fred's in heaven with his ice cream imgp3217 Harry stands in the Place Carnot imgp3219 It rains for a bit, so the boys run around again imgp3223 Isobel smiles to herself at the Maison Bor imgp3224 Harry stares at nougat imgp3225 Piles of nougat imgp3226 Another old shop-sign relic, for Gazaniol imgp3227 Nice City of Carcassonne cast-iron-work imgp3228 The gang inspects some sculptures in an exhibition imgp3230 The boys look at fish imgp3231 More markets in Les Halles Prosper Montagné imgp3233 Isobel buys some stuff in a boulangerie imgp3234 Fred and Harry mess around in a fish shop imgp3235 We walk back under the umbrellas imgp3237 We have left-over pizza for lunch imgp3239 Lunch on the patio imgp3240 The town of Lagrasse imgp3242 How French could it get: a 2CV trundles past imgp3243 The Community School of Lagrasse imgp3244 A couple of French snails slide around imgp3247 Harry and Isobel on the main street in Lagrasse imgp3248 Quaintly-decaying shop sign imgp3249 Back alleys of Lagrasse imgp3250 The old market square imgp3255 A cobbled back street imgp3257 The gang walk the cobbled streets of Lagrasse imgp3260 A view over the river imgp3262 Isobel on the bridge imgp3263 Harry peers over the bridge imgp3265 Harry spots a door into the mountain with God on it imgp3267 There's some sort of radical book sale going on imgp3269 The boys run up some steps imgp3270 Up in the former monks' dormitory imgp3279 Harry looks at some stones imgp3280 The boys look at exhibits imgp3281 This boat is related to the stripes on La Cité imgp3284 On the river imgp3285 An inconvenient public convenience imgp3286 The Abbaye of Lagrasse imgp3291 Walking down some steep cobbled streets imgp3292 A French cat gives us the hairy eyeball imgp3295 Inside the Eglise Saint Michel imgp3296 There's a very yappy small dog outside the church imgp3299 The boys eat ice cream imgp3301 Fred is sad his ice cream doesn't measure up imgp3302 A shop full of fancy olive oils imgp3305 A dude in spectacularly-blue robes sells jewellry imgp3306 France still has hole-in-the-floor bogs imgp3308 Hanging around outside an Epicerie imgp3309 We head back to the car imgp3311 Harry on the path at the house imgp3313 The boys on the path imgp3314 Back at the house, we play cards for a bit imgp3317 The view of La Cité from the house imgp3322 Isobel reads a magazine as a bedtime story imgp3329 We arrive early when the beach isn't yet too busy imgp3332 Fred checks the water out imgp3339 Fred hurls himself in imgp3346 Harry starts building a sandcastle imgp3347 Flaking out on the "beach" imgp3351 When it gets too hot, we retire to the woods for a picnic imgp3354 Harry looks out from our eyrie imgp3358 Harry leans on a tree imgp3364 The boys run around on top of a hill imgp3368 Harry has a drink imgp3370 Sunlight through the trees imgp3374 We explore further up the lake imgp3376 Harry gets a slushy imgp3377 Harry's tongue is super-bright red/orange imgp3378 Massed pedalos imgp3381 Fred chases grasshoppers imgp3385 We find a nice green beetle on a stick imgp3392 Harry and Fred scramble down a hillside imgp3396 Standing surfboard-canoe things and some ducks imgp3397 We rug up with life jackets imgp3398 We hire a pedalo for half an hour imgp3400 The beach is now heaving, as seen from the pedalo imgp3403 Some dude practices water-skiing imgp3406 Fred does a pout imgp3414 Harry feeds the ducks imgp3417 Harry sort-of-snorkels about imgp3420 It's churro time imgp3422 Isobel roams around with a cucumber in Carrefour imgp3423 Sometimes translations can be a bit dodgy imgp3425 Cool "hand pan" buskers near the Porte d'Aude imgp3426 Fred and Harry play with Lego at Le Crèneau imgp3430 There's a Peugeot 204 convertible in the square imgp3431 Dinner time at another restaurant imgp3432 The boys mess around some more imgp3438 The boys in the square imgp3446 Harry is surprised by something imgp3448 Harry has a think about what to draw imgp3454 The château Comtal and the restaurant Le St. Jean imgp3455 Wandering back through the sodium lights imgp3459 A solitary car waits at the bottom of an apartment block