I really enjoyed the idea of the overnight sleeper train from Paris to Narbonne. The was to take about eight hours and I found out that I was responsible for waking up at the right time and getting off at the right station. With my alarm set for six in the morning, as I was to be off the train at seven, I got out of bed only to realize later that I hadn't updated my clock to the new time zone so I was up an hour early. Lesson learned.

Once in Narbonne I made my way to the info centre to get some maps so that once Dom arrived we could make the most of the day. I was not open when I got there so I found a spot to sit along the river where I got to watch fish jumping and feeding  for about a half an hour. After the info centre I headed back to the station to meet Dom. Her original train had been delayed and so I just went for a little walk but once we met up we went off to explore the town. 

The old road from Via Domitia

One of the man sites that we wanted to see was the Via Domitia, Which is an Ancient town from 21 centuries ago and joined Italy and then Spain in the second century BC. It was uncovered in 1997.

Next was the Horreum. Here is an excerpt from the visitors guide.

The galleries built at the end of the 1st Century B.B. and are located 5 meters below ground level.

These subterranean galleries which might have been a public warehouse (Horreum in Jatin), don't really have equivalents in the Roman world. They are the only antique monument which can be visited is in Narbonne. Noticed in 1838, they were partly explored between 1935 and 1941.

The wings constituted of a central hallway flanked by tiny rooms, each one opened by a narrow doorway without any closing system. The total building is barrel vaulted. The wings cross each other at right angles and must have formed a 38x49 meter U plan developing around a central solid block which has not been excavated so far.

Inside the Horreum

After this it was off to explore the many churches as well as some of the other sites like the 'Merchants Bridge'  the  Market hall as well as the 'house of the three nurses'. We also went into the crypt of a church where they were doing excavations. It was pretty neat to see the bones of people laying all about!

Inside the church crypt

House of the Three Nurses (built in 1558)

We then retired in our little B&B for some rest and relaxation where we sipped on wine and watched Storage wars on TV, a Canadian made show.

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