The sun always shines in Massachusetts..lalalala

...and so it may well...but it always seems to rain in Carcassonne.
However, in the words of Billy Connely...there is no 'bad' weather...it is just 'weather'...different weather.
After leaving sunny and warm San Sebastian we hit the road again and as we approach the Pyrenees...the heavens did open and dump a heavy load of the wet stuff upon the little Blueberry, as one can see from the photo taken through the windscreen.  It soon put a stop to us hurtling along at a hundred and thirty Kph ...we aquaplaned at one stage while overtaking a truck...just too much water for the road to handle and it was just a tad scary.
We arrived at Carcassonne early afternoon and it seemed that the weather had settled in for the day.
However, you do not travel to the other side of this planet to stay indoors and see nothing.  So boots were retrieved and rain coats donned and the intrepid Bat and Badger were orf up the hill to the castle.   By the time we had traversed the winding lane up there and entered the wall....we were drenched.
My sheepskin lined Ugg boots (almost elegant wedge heels I might add...not 'slippers')...were becoming heavier and heavier....and the wind got up so it was hard to keep the hoods on.  The wind was whipping around the lanes of the castle village.  'Ducked into a couple of shops.  I tried to talk the Badgers into trying the delicacy of the region...cassoulette....but he almost heaved at the ornate bottle of the stuff in a gourmet shop...grey sludge with beans and a layer of duck fat floating around....mmm strange man.  He did buy me the Violet Liqueur I so craved last year though..that will be coming home to be consumed on only the most special of occasions.  We went to a leather shop too (I think the proprietor had a mini heat attack when she saw the state of us entering her magnificent establishment...but a sale could be a sale..so she was polite) ...and by a 'leather shop' I mean the most exquisite jackets you have ever seen..but alas.....the coats were around $4000 so...I decided...'you know what, it just isn't that cold in OZ, better leave those for the less fortunate eh?'
It got colder and colder and when my finger tips had turned a nice shade of blue and no longer had any feeling...we decided to call it a day and fight our way defeated to the bus stop and into the main precinct.   And...just like last year...no alfresco dining, hardly any restaurants open and those that were, were booked out by the canny locals...blast.
So after thawing out in the same Irish pub we thawed out in last year (minus the drunken Kiwi rugby player ...thank you God)....we then found the grocers, bought some supplies and headed back to our lovely apartment...had a soak in a steaming hot bath, cooked up some dinner....and looked at the castle by night from the living room window...lovely even in the rain.
This morning?....sunny, windless and warm....c'est la vie . On-on....