After a well-celebrated 40th birthday, our host spent a couple of the first hours of his fifth decade whisking us through Carcassonne. One could spend a couple days wandering around this ancient Middle Ages castle and restored village. But we were on a mission to reach the beach in time for dinner, so we took the 'tasting menu' version of the place. Including a French-language tour that I could follow just enough to know when the guide wasn't joking about leaving dallying photographers locked in the castle overnight.