Mohamed had a day of driving ahead of him, so I suggested we start the day with a trip to the corner pastry shop for rations. We ended up buying a salmon panini and ham and a goat geese panini, a chocolate and an almond pastry, an apricot and cream pastry, an coffee eclair, an apple pastry, and long skinny baguette to go with our cheese. I ate my sandwich while waiting for Mohamed to check in at the Avis counter for our rental car, as I had worked up an appetite during our walk from the hotel. The cheese was still warm and gooey!
We started our drive toward Carcassonne and decided not to avoid toll roads because of time and also the bad experience of driving towards Cadiz. At the first toll station, I started rummaging in my coin purse...and then Mohamed reported that the total was 19.10 Euro! (We ended paying almost $100 worth of tolls just that day.) Halfway through the seven-hour drive, we stopped for a bathroom break. Mohamed saw duck mousse attached to a meat terrine, which I thought was hilarious: the food in French gas stations is better than some U.S. grocery stores!
I saw beautiful French countryside along the drive -- I was surprised by how lush and green it was.
When we finally arrived in Carcassonne (poor Mohamed had to drive the entire day), we were too tired to go out and eat. We had a wonderful picnic in the hotel room instead. Clearly, we did not suffer. :)
