Carcassonne

I arrived yesterday and walked from the train station to the hostel which was up in La Cite (ie. the castle!) because it was only about 30 minutes. Once you approach the castle, though, it's uphill which I didn't mind, but every once else kept giving me "you're crazy!" stares, which I can only assume is because of the backpack. Made it fine, whatever. I got to the hostel and set up some laundry before heading out to find out how I go about seeing the Cathar Castles. Apparently, because it's a Saturday today and it's September now, I don't see the castles. Tours are not available on this day at this time of year and there is no public transportation that would get me both there and back. I was a little upset since I could have moved on if I hadn't paid for my bed, but today is turning out fine anyway. I have already been to the markets and scored some produce as well as some material. You see, I had been considering buying a blanket for park-reading purposes as well as keeping me warm when there aren't enough blankets, but the material only cost me 2 euro for 2 yards which was a pretty sweet deal, I must say!
And now, for more about Nice. I splurged and had a fantastic meal with wine at a restaurant recommended to me by Donna and Stan (thank you again!) and it was sooooo good! Earlier in the day, I started by seeing two museums with modern and contemporary art, which I enjoyed very much, and I walked around town for a bit before getting down to the water. I walked along the walkway (funny that) and went into the Negresco Hotel (very fancy on the inside with some art and a stunning chandelier!) before sitting down to watch the ocean and the people. Before finding a seat, I saw a man with a beautiful big dog with a muzzle hanging from it's neck and I saw him make this huge dog get under the bench before sitting down on it himself, so I took a picture since the dog looked uncomfortable. This ended up being the first available bench (facing the other way) and the man proceeded to ask me, once I had sat down, if I wanted him to take my picture, since he had seen me taking pictures. After talking for a while, I agreed, and he proceeded to talk to my for the rest of the evening until I left for dinner (this is quite the span of time). His name is William and he is from Scotland (!). His friend, who joined us late, is named André and he is French. The dog is Flloyd (yes, with two Ls) and Flloyd was under the bench because the (bad-names) french president has made it a law that dogs over a certain size may only be in public if they are muzzled, harnessed, and still, in touristy places, only at certain hours of the day. So Flloyd was hiding. William pretty much told me his life story, which is quite sad, and he also told me I am pretty (two strange men in 4 days), but says that it is because I have a good heart and not because he wants anything (?). He was actually quite a funny guy and I really enjoyed talking to him and André, who were both very opinionated (not always well opinioned), especially about the current French government. Oh, André did explain to me the difference between Québec and Paris french which is that we all speak the french of Louis XIV (the king who sent the people), which is very old and peasant-like because Paris has had so much time to evolve since then. At least that's what André says.
I have more stories about these three for when I get home, but I can't tell all my stories here or else I will have nothing to say when I get back!
Aurevoir...