We had booked another night on this camp ground already so today was going to be totally relaxing. That was the plan. And life always goes according to plan. 😉

The camp ground provided us with baguette, croissants and pain au chocolate so we feasted instead of having a normal breakfast. A bit of lounging and some well-deserved hot showers later, we packed up to walk into the “new city” which is actual Carcassonne and not the medieval old town.

This time it wasn’t so much what we could look at than how much we could get a feeling for French life on a Saturday before Easter. Number 3 took his place on his “throne” in the backpack and we walked through greenery and parks to the old bridge to cross over into new town. The first few alleys were rather abandoned but then we came upon a square with a market. So many things to look at, smell and wanting to eat! I ended up buying artisanal chocolate because…just because really. But we also got some fresh produce and things to nibble on.

At noon, we were already hungry. Lonely planet provided us with a suggestion for a place to eat so we sat down in “L’Artichoke”. The waiter was very friendly but he also talked to us super fast and we didn’t understand why. Until it clicked – he was the same waiter from the tapas bar yesterday! Such coincidence! 🙂

Flo asked for a recommendation on which dish to get and went with the first thing that was named: A risotto with roast pork. I chose the vegetarian lasagne and Number 3 was happy to charm people around us and trip up the poor waiters. The food was good, especially Flo’s. He loved it. It must have been all sorts of delightful and delicious. With a crème brulee as a dessert afterwards, I was also happy and full.

We headed back towards the camp ground looking forward to a nap. Baby already napped in the backpack. So by the time we were back, Number 3 was rested and not pleased with us being such lazy spoilsports. I tried for quite a while to get Number 3 back to sleep, but no chance. It was playtime!

By 4pm we headed out to buy groceries for the next couple of days. Easter is coming. Shops will be closed for a day or two. A bit knackered, we hopped in the car for a 5min drive to the hypermarche. This was the point where the satnav decided to play a weird trick on us and get us somewhere into a residential area. Number 3 started to make unhappy noises and I started to stress.

It took us maybe 15min to get to the right place. By that time, the unhappy noises had also stopped. We parked, I turned around and froze. Number 3 had vomited all over himself and the car seat and then fallen asleep. The next 10 min were spent cleaning up a baby in a parking lot…a baby that desperately wants to hug you while being covered in vomit. Then, the car seat had to be cleaned as best as we could. Afterwards, we went shopping in a bit of a frenzy.

By this point, I was very tired and hungry. But then we also had to refuel and then we had to really clean all the dirty gear and then we had to have dinner and then I finally brought Baby into bed. Puh!

Our lovely, relaxed, slow day turned into a bit of a mess. It was still quite a good day. Except for the faint whiff of toddler vomit that hangs in the car …

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