Just before we climbed onto the plane to Carcassonne I had my usual wander around the airport bookshop. One particular title caught my eye. Drunk Tank Pink.

I just had to buy it.

It’s not the normal book I would buy but it is fascinating and an easy read. It’s all about psychology and some very strange effects that colours, words and symbol have on us as people.

Take for instance bright pink, the colour. Science has proved that if you stare at or are in a room of this colour you are weakened somehow. An experiment with several groups proved the effect. It calms humans, reduces strength and resistance. Hence drunk tank pink colours, it has been proven to reduce aggression of arrested drunks if you lock them in a cell of this colour. Marketing companies use it to help sell products or to get us to linger longer in their stores. I’m currently reading the part about names and how this can affect your future- all about pronounceability. Some fascinating insights and experiments in here.

Worth a read.

A nice few days of food, drink and walking bloody miles.

We now have a new menu option for you to try as well when we see you next, cassoulet. Oh yummy.

menu option

Now this is what you call beer

First day in Carcassonne (no I’d never heard of it either). 28 degrees and sunny, lovely town house and a rather big castle thingy.

First port of call is (as usual) where to eat, so after a brief womble we found a rather nice empty restaurant. Time to sample the local dish Cassoulet (basically a stew with beans, duck, sausage and pork), very tasty and filling. Mrs Fogg ever the carnivore went for a steak.

Obviously since we are with the folks, there was quite a lot of falling down water (they drink you see).

Today an opportunity to explore the Cite and find more grub.

After a day pootling around in Mildred our Fiat Panda P.O.S, we settled on food at a local establishment, which is very friendly and serves a demon rosemary steak.

Whilst enjoying our meal 6 of our colonial cousins descended on the place, complete with name badges, celebrating one of the battle axe’s 50th wedding anniversary. What a crotchety old bunch. The service was “appalling” because the only waitress had not wiped the old dears brow when they came in. Next one professed to speak fluent italian and would order for everyone, providing the numbers didn’t exceed uno or due. “I’d like uno tagliatelle é due salad and would also like aqua fizzy”, oh well at least they tried. Next was the explanation to her troop that the aqua fizzy (or aqua frizzante as it is known), is different to normal water because it’s less sweet. No love, it’s less sweet cos you ain’t got heaps of auger tipped in it! Then you simply must try the Brusketta (close but it’s bruschetta) .oh the food was served for them but the salad wasn’t quite right and the lasagnes was “too cheesy”. Gees how these people manage to wipe their ass is amazing.

Still nothing as much fun as watching these people, provides superb meal entertainment.

Then back to be bombarded by flying monsters at the villa, with a rather large chianti.