Right after some of you met in Annecy, I flew down to Carcassonne for a long week-end with my wife.
I was actually considering going to the Channel Islands, but when I asked my wife she said she wanted to go somewhere warm. As it turned out anwhere would have been warm this particular week-end, but to celebrate a 20th anniversary I figured I should better do as I was told, and Carcassonne it was.
Carcassonne does not have Avgas unless you have a BP card, which I do not. I therefore figured out that I would make a stopover at Muret near Toulouse to refuel and have lunch. We were planning a 9 o’clock LT EOBT from LFPT, but were a little late and when we were at the holding point we got word that they were changing the runways at CDG and there was a 15 minute delay. So I shut down and we waited in the growing heat of the morning until we got our clearance and off we went.
I just love the departures from LFPT to PTV because that is an opportunity to see Paris and surroundings up close if the weather is good and not too hazy. And on this particular day we got vectored as close as you can get.
The flight was uneventful. Clear blue skies. The Auvergne mountains to the left, the Perigord on othe right. We landed at Muret for lunch. The first attempt at uplifting avgas was unsuccessful because the card terminal refused to read the magnetic stripe. So we went to lunch at “La Cigogne”, a restaurant located on the north-eastern end of the airfield after having stopped by the aéroclub responsible for the fuel station, and when we got back the mechanic had cleaned the card reader and it worked.
So we set off again for the 50 NM flight to Carcassonne and were lucky that R28 was in use. After a right downwind we turned final right next to the old city. The approach is pretty steep (7%) and you have to take a good look at the PAPI which I often find dificult on a long final in bright sunlight. We taxied to the GA apron in the NE end and parked.
Quite a bit of traffic by Ryanair
Nice hard apron with room for a limited number of airplanes (8-10)
There is a gate to get out and back airside.
The walk to the main terminal is long and dusty, but there you find a shuttle service to the city center, and possibly taxis.
The shuttle is 5 € and it took us to close vicinity of our hotel “Les Trois Couronnes”. The hotel has a swimming pool, a panoramic restaurant/bar with a view over the old town, that serves breakfast and dinner (possibly also lunch). It was more expensive than the one chosen in Calvi, but less expensive than the one we stayed in Lausanne. 117 € for the room, 13 € for breakfast and in walking distance from everything in Carcassonne.
The citadelle is just beautiful.
Hen party
We rented bicycles to tour the Canal du Midi eastwards from Carcassonne. The bicycle rental is on the south side of the canal, just across from the railway station. There are also tourboats, but so infrequently that we gave that up because the next tour would start at our time of departure. If you want to go on a boatride, better plan ahead and make sure you have the schedules.
You can rent one of these too if you feel like navigating the canals for a week or more.
It was a glorious week-end
Just wish I had a little more time to spend down there. But I’ll be back!
Aviathor wrote:
The citadelle is just beautiful.
Isn’t it just! I remember visiting it many years ago and remembered how beautiful it was. So it was there that I choose to propose to my girlfriend last March 
We choose to stay in the Best Western Dijon inside the old city. It’s a lovely hotel, and didn’t cost any more than your one. Though that was in March, so not peak season!
No doubt we’ll be back sometime too!
By the way, was it very busy in the old city? I’d heard that it can be extremely busy during the summer season, but it was nice and relaxed when we were there.
Don’t leave us in suspense – what was the answer?
My wife and I were in Carcassone in 2011 and stayed at the Hotel du Chateu immediately outside of the city walls. Small but very nice.
The fuel station was still manned back then – by a quite bureaucratic guy who refused to refuel us before I applied his “AVGAS” stickers to the filler caps …
Some lovely pictures. Bluelines recount of the “Avgas” stickers reminded me of my trip to Stornoway. The Refueler there sucked his teeth because I did not have these on the plane. I told him that as it was not my plane. I could not stick them on so we came to a compromise that if he gave me some stickers and I promised to get the owner to stick them on when I got home, he would refuel the aircraft.
Isn’t it just! I remember visiting it many years ago and remembered how beautiful it was. So it was there that I choose to propose to my girlfriend last March
Congratulations @dublinpilot! I suppose the answer was “YES” otherwise you wouldn’t be writing about it 
We choose to stay in the Best Western Dijon inside the old city. It’s a lovely hotel, and didn’t cost any more than your one. Though that was in March, so not peak season!
The price wasn’t such a concern. This was a bit last minute, and it appeared that the hotels within the old city were fully booked. We did however find the location of the “Les Trois Couronnes” very convenient.
By the way, was it very busy in the old city? I’d heard that it can be extremely busy during the summer season, but it was nice and relaxed when we were there.
It wasn’t bad. No problem at all finding a table at restaurants for lunch. It was not crowded despite the lack of availability of hotels within the old city. In all fairness, Booking was the site reporting that rooms were not available, so that probably only means that no rooms were available through Booking… Had I had more time I would have called some of them to get the availability of rooms from the horse’s mouth.
My wife and I were in Carcassone in 2011 and stayed at the Hotel du Chateu immediately outside of the city walls. Small but very nice.
We walked past “Hotel du Chateau”. It looked very nice indeed.
The fuel station was still manned back then – by a quite bureaucratic guy who refused to refuel us before I applied his “AVGAS” stickers to the filler caps …
I had that happen to me too. Actually the attendant did not refuse to fill, but he did give me two stickers. Frankly on a DA40 it is a good idea because I have several times experienced that they sent out the Jet-A1 bowser instead of Avgas.
Great PIREP A-V-8or !
Don’t leave us in suspense – what was the answer?
The answer was yes. As Aviathor said, I probably wouldn’t mention it if it was otherwise!
Congratulations
Congrats!
Also, if your GF told you she “wants to be just friends” or “needs more space” best to not post it in case she changes her mind and you have no Plan B
