Weiss Family our adventures beyond southern california

We have been in carcassonne in southern france for a week. No computer here, so I can't upload photos of the amazing walled city and castle above us. We are in the lower town along the river Aude; the Bastide Saint Louis. It has been a slow and relaxing week, filled with walks along the battlements and the Canal du Midi, lunches and dinners of cheese, fruit and bread, and reading aloud about the Crusades and the Middle Ages. Right now joel is reading, Natasha is writing in her journal and Elijah is hard at work on his report about Medieval Knights. We are here for another week and then we leave France for Barcelona. Joel and I are both amazed that a month has aleady passed. One great memory from carcassonne will be the children making shields from boxes left in the Place Carnot after the farmers market. After reading about heraldry, they chose their own shield designs and painted them. Joel cut out sturdy cardboard swords, and we both sat back to watch a tremendous battle between the two kids today in the warm and sunny plaza.