Paris Dakar rest day #2 – Carcassonne

September 13, 2023 was our second rest day on this crazy adventure. The thing I was most looking forward to was spending time with Beau. Both of us have wanted to visit Carcassonne for a long time and it’s great we get to do it together.

Ah, a rest day! Not only could we get up at any time, but I was sleeping in a bed. We woke up before 8 and the rain had stopped. We walked down to an amazing bakery for breakfast.

Next up was the walk around the walls of the famous Cité de Carcassonne. We headed up and the line to get tickets was only about 5 minutes. We walked all through marveling at the amazing towers and exhibits. Even though it’s totally tourist oriented, it’s still great.

Afterward, we looked around the Cité and bought a few souvenirs. We were thinking of lunch but decided to put it off. Instead, we went back home and I had a nap while Beau went for a run. He came back happy and sweaty and after a shower it really was time for lunch. We walked downtown, looked at a few places, but not many were open so late (2-3 pm). Finally we found a place called Comptoir Ludique which was rated highly. We stepped in and were shocked: there were hundreds of board games to play (plus a good number for sale). There was no one there, but the owner was friendly and said yes to everything: Yes we can have lunch, Yes we can have wine, then to my most important question, Yes we have the game of Carcassonne! So we really did it: played Carcassonne in Carcassonne!

After a long game (Beau crushed), and dessert, there was over an hour until our dinner reservation. So we walked around and stumbled into an Irish Bar within a block or two. It looked nice and had a dart board so we decided to play. The two guys there playing turned out to be cyclists, German and French. We all decided to have a EU vs US 501 tournament. Watching the German guy warm up was very scary as his form and scoring were both amazing. But the French guy was struggling as much as either of us. We had a great time, sipping IPAs and playing. They won the first game but we somehow came back to win the second and third, and thus became the Carcassonne 501 Darts Champions of September 13, 2023.

They had to leave and we played a couple more games, then headed over to La Table de Marie, where we met Wytze, Andrew and Daniel. We had a lovely dinner with three bottles of delicious wine and dessert to die for. Why can’t there be another rest day?! They are just so good!