Carcassonne

[Richard-R]

I've been to La Cité more times than I care to remember but never to Basse Ville. Are there are good shops/Department stores there? My wife want to go there shopping for some reason. Also are there by chance any English/Irish bars in the town. A small reward for me driving there would be a good pint of draught beer.

Thanks in advance.

[Jonzjob]

Hi, Bass Carcassonne does have some good shops. There is a very good book/ stationers shop on the road, pedestrian, between Place Carnau and the Arch, going away from the direction of the train station. There's a lovely crockery shop towards the top of Rue de Verdun. They have a sale on from tomorrow til the end of the week because they are moving to new premises soon. Just down from there is a big material shop, not big from the front but it goes back a long way. and if you really like Brit fizz there's an Irish bar just East of Place Carnau. Not been in there myself though.

Unless you really know the width of your car I would not drive into Bass C. I would park either up at the top, near Trokant or down by the law courts. If you do drive into the Bass city then remember 'priority a droite'!!!!!!!!

Have fun, as cities go it OK...

John.

[Richard-R]

So I guess no department stores.

Oh well will have to to spend 2 hours drinking fizzy beer while mon amis eat lunch LOL. I have drive in La Cité so basse Ville is fine for me. WHO DARES WINS.

[Tourangelle]

The nearest thing to a department store in Carcasonne is that there is

quite a large Eurodif and also a Monoprix.  I also seem to

remember an English shop.[;)]

[Quillan]

There are loads of shops opening near the airport including C&A which should keep the women folk occupied for a while. The negative side is there is no 'man park' (just in case you ladies don't understand the latter it's a bar).

[Jonzjob]

Come on Richard, we ain't slept. 'ow did yer trip to Basse Carcassonne go?[;)]

John...

[Richard-R]

The weather was far to dull to imspire the misses into a shopping frenzy, so a good day for me. Amazing amount of parking there I must say but Perpignan is better for shopping and about the same distance for us.

[Smiley]

I have a house about 50 mins south of Carcassonne on the edge of Ariege/languedoc. I was talking to a fellow brit who tells me there is a British butchers there selling bacon, sausages etc. Is this true and has anyone tried him out. I did see a shop at the top of the road leading to the railway station and Canal, with Union Jacks on it but the shutters were down

I love the French cuisine but I do miss my cooked breakfasts when I'm there. I don't know why 'cause I hardly have them back home- It's a holiday thing I guess!!

[Quillan]

Why do you need a English shop to get the stuff for a English Breakfast?

Our local supermarkets have all you need, bacon,eggs, baked beans (If you must) mushrooms, black pudding and sausage. To be honest the quality is much better as well, the sausages, which are more like the UK Cumberland have one added ingrediant so often missing from the UK versions, meat and lots of it. I went back to the UK last year on private business and had three things I wanted, fish and chips, curry, breakfast and a pint. Fish and chips were terible even though I went to the same shop we had been using for 25 year. English preakfast, well the bangers tasted of sawdust and the whle lot was running in fat and that was at Sainsbury's. The curry I had in France whilst waiting for the ferry and very nice it was to. The only thing I did like and really enjoyed was a few pints down my old local. So to be honest I can get everything here food wise excluding the beer.

[Miki]

[quote user="Quillan"]

Why do you need a English shop to get the stuff for a English Breakfast?

Our local supermarkets have all you need, bacon,eggs, baked beans

(If you must) mushrooms, black pudding and sausage. To be honest the

quality is much better as well, the sausages, which are more like the

UK Cumberland have one added ingrediant so often missing from the UK

versions, meat and lots of it. I went back to the UK last year on

private business and had three things I wanted, fish and chips, curry,

breakfast and a pint. Fish and chips were terible even though I went to

the same shop we had been using for 25 year. English preakfast, well

the bangers tasted of sawdust and the whle lot was running in fat and

that was at Sainsbury's. The curry I had in France whilst waiting for

the ferry and very nice it was to. The only thing I did like and really

enjoyed was a few pints down my old local. So to be honest I can get

everything here food wise excluding the beer.

[/quote]

Chris,

You obviously eat at the wrong curry houses in the UK. Never,

ever,  have I found a classic Bangladeshi/Balti meal here in

France.  The attempts here are mainly for the general French

market and totally "watered" down. Sure someone will say, well we found

one, well all I can say to that is, I cannot even name the sheer number

of places we knew/know  in West London, many as they are, let

alone around the East End  or indeed in all of the UK and believe

me, we have searched high and low in France wherever we have lived or

stayed. Ask Alexis, she can't find one either and the best we

personally can find is a chap 35 minutes from us and he is Sri Lankan

but tends to understands the needs of the Brits and spices them up. The

local Indian restos are somewhat expensive and certainly have nothing

like the taste of  proper Bangladeshi food. Like so many places

inc "Chinese",  France also had "colonies" in those "regions" and

as such, the cooking is tempered to French palates, so of course

naturally it will taste different..

We've been there on LF with sausages and although one can search and

find a munchable French sizzler, one also has to be careful of the

deadly spurting fat that propels itself out when barbecuing ! Try

buying suasages in the UK at a good butchers or indeed at a farmers

market, (don't think supermarkets in general are the best place to buy

good sausages, if good sausages were what you were searching for,

hvaing said that, I am delighted when we are given even a nice pack of

plain Walls Pork sizzlers !) ) nothing in the world gets even close.

Had too many bones splinters and lumps of gristle in the Toulouse type

to enjoy them and the fat in Merguez and chipolata style has to be seen

to be believed !

Chacun à son goût eh !

[Miki]

Can't correct the spelling errors as this keeps appeaing.

The

administrator(s) have configured this forum to have a time limit for

editing messages. If you still require a message to be edited, please

check with a forum moderator.

Two minutes later !

You being a moderator Chris, can have the problem of sorting it

out why and why can't we cut and paste from anywhere either. Drag and

drop is OK  but it is easy to forget that one cannot cut and paste.

[Richard-R]

I noticed that the "IRISH PUB" was closed at lunch time and there was a hole in the glass window. Someone must have got a bad pint of stout.

[Miki]

[quote user="Rdkr"]I noticed that the "IRISH PUB" was closed at lunch

time and there was a hole in the glass window. Someone must have got a

bad pint of stout.[/quote]

Or an Irish way of telling a client,................ "Chose yer window, your'e leaving"

[Quillan]

Miki, they must be pretty rough Toulousian bangers up your neck of the woods? The ones down here are very good from Champion's but perhaps thats because we are nearer and the locals know what to expect. We have these long thin red things as well, now those really do contain a lot of fat and it's red in colour to boot. Get that on anything, wood, concreate, cloths, skin etc and you will be scrubing away for weeks to get rid of the stain.

What I can't get is back bacon, preferably smoked, but then you get used to the streaky stuff sold here. To be honest I don't mind so much now, perhaps I am going native?

We can get chedder cheese down her now so I can enjoy cheesy beans on toast sometimes but thats about it really. I have also got used to eating smaller but more courses as well. I think the French know how to eat, lots of small courses, bottle of wine and at least two hours, much more civilised than wolfing it down like we do in the UK.

Perpignan has a good Indian (resto I mean) but as said about others here it's not cheap. The restro I went to was a short walk from the hotel at the Speed Ferry terminal in France. I have to say it was different in choice, quantity, taste and price but it was packed and very good. It's interesting to note the comment about 'dumming it down' with Indian food here. We always assume that in the UK we get the original. I used to work with a load of Indian guys and they said that what you get in a UK resto was different to what they eat. They even bought me in a home cooked meal one day for lunch and very nice it was too, not as hot as what you get in a restro (and no they did not 'adjust' it for my western pallet). They also told me that a Vindaloo and Balti do not exist in Indian cooking, just something they made up for the English. I do like a Balti though.

[Owens88]

 >They also told me that a Vindaloo and Balti do not exist in Indian cooking, just something they made up for the English.

Nearby to me in the UK is the Leicester Melton Rd. 1st-3rd generation Asians catering for themselves and the Brits. Yep - the repertoire is wider and nicer than a 'classic' 2 dimensional Indian (How Strong, What Meat ?).

 

Isn't it always true that what we brits think is 'right' has been created for us as a compromise. e.g. the Chinese takeaways of the 70's can not have reflected any reality elsewhere in the world surely ?

[Miki]

Miki, they must be pretty rough Toulousian bangers up your neck of the woods?

Must be the time they have spent on the roads Chris!!

What I can't get is back bacon, preferably smoked, but then you

get used to the streaky stuff sold here. To be honest I don't mind so

much now, perhaps I am going native?

We bought an electric slicer sometime ago and we buy large slabs of

poitrine fumé from the wholesaler (Metro or Promocash) and we slice our

own, so we don't bother with it from the UK. We also have had Cheddar

available for ages but it is pretty bog standard fare but it does go

well on toast !

We had friends in the UK who were Bangladeshi and what they cooked

was somewhat better than many "Indian" restos but often certain dishes

were the same as what we were getting in the restos we frequented.

Agree that much of what is bought in UK "Indian/" restos is produced

for the palates of the inhabitants (John, exactly the same for Chinese meals of course)  but what I was saying was that our

"reproduction" is better than the watered down French style of "Indian"

and don't forget, it is Bangladeshi meals that we should be talking

about, not Indian. It is the Bangladeshis that have given the UK the

proper grub ! What you were given was a general everyday meal and very nice too no doubt but our

friends (and no doubt your workmates)could produce authentic meals that could  be spiced up or down to suit any occasion.

Got me craving an "Indian" now, where's the Répertoire !

[Smiley]

Blimey I only mentioned I like a fry up when I'm on hol's !!!

So no one knows if there is indeed a Brit butchers in Carcassonne then?

You guys seem fairly fortunate with your local suppliers, where my place is there is nothing around except the odd Champion and Super U. We do have a local butchers but he doesn't sell back or middle bacon as we know it. I find streaky a bit too fatty. As for sausages the ones we've tried are OK for the odd barbecue but not brilliant and very fatty.

Still I can always have my warm croissants and local preserves, not bettered anywhere in UK!! 

 

[Jonzjob]

Quote:

         I have a house about 50 mins south of Carcassonne on the edge of Ariege/languedoc. I was talking to a fellow brit who tells me there is a British butchers there selling bacon, sausages etc. Is this true and has anyone tried him out. I did see a shop at the top of the road leading to the railway station and Canal, with Union Jacks on it but the shutters were down

I love the French cuisine but I do miss my cooked breakfasts when I'm there. I don't know why 'cause I hardly have them back home- It's a holiday thing I guess!!

Hi Smiley,

The shop you are looking for is called 'The Best of British' and it's on the road that runs past the Eastern adge of the cathederal (bloody great church!) up towards the park by the port. They have lots of U.K. type goodies, but if you are after bacon then why not get some of the smoked ham the French do and get the boucher to cut it to the thick you want it. Fry it and you've got bacon... Tres facile?

I don't know the opening times of the shop, but if you look in your Pages Jaune and get the number then phone and Nigel will tell you when they are open.

If you are really loking for high class food then there's always MacDonnalds[+o(][+o(][8-)]

John.

P.S. Richard, how would you know if a pint of Brit-fiz was god or bad. They are all the same - 'merde', so that can't be the reason for the hole in the Irish Bar window!!! Good grief the system can read French too. The word blanked out was murd (well nearly)

[Smiley]

Many Thanks Jonzjob, I'll try and locate it next time I'm down.[:D]