In search of lost cheese

In seach of lost Cheese

Some time ago, I found myself in Carcassone -
A mideval town near the southern border of France, not too far from Andorra.
It dates back to "a lot" BC.

You may have heard of the board game "carcassone". Where you build castles, farms, walls etc.
And try to cheat your friends out of precious resources.

I prefer the actual town,
Surrounded by quiet hills, picnic rivers...  Billbord free roads.

...

The people there speak with an interesting accent.
They pronounce all the 'E's at the ends of the words.
The same way you're supposed to read french poetry.
'mange' 'fromage'
And they were much more friendly than those I met in Paris.
(I don't blame those poor parisians. The tourism is rather dense)

The old walled city sits up on the hill.
with dozens of turrents, drawbridges, the works.
One thousand years of monarchs and seiges, recorded in stone.

Inside the old city, shops and restaurants fill every nook
I wondered how some of them got any business, way in the back of some obscure, cobbled alley,
selling candied fruits for 10euro per pound. 

In the old city, three restaurants were michelin starred
One was serving white truffel
I begged to go to there for dinner.
We didn't.


In the old city, we were free to explore the rooms, climb on the masonry, sing in deserted halls.
You didn't have to sign a waiver or ask permission. Nobody was telling you 'don't go in there!'

I hoisted my sisters up several stacks of giant square stones.
And at the top of a wall we shouted "Mom, look!"
After which she expressed concern.
And we kept climbing.

...

In the modern part of town in a supermarket checkout line,
the lady behind the register explained to me that I needed to get a different bottle of wine.
The bar-code hadn't been registered for the variety I had chosen.
So I returned to the shelves and grabbed a different bottle.

But upon resenting it to her, she exclaimed C'est la meme! 
C'est la meme!!! she said.
In my confusion and impared french comprehension, I had grabbed the same bottle as before.
C'etait la meme

...

We lunched on gruyere and cured meats by the side of a small stream.
Unable to appreciate the bottle of wine.
Typical American tourists...

...

When it was dinnertime, I asked the owner of our hotel where we should go to eat.
And with a red circle on our map, we made our way to the center of town.

...
After much debating,
I decided I would order Paella. 
Being close to spain, I thought it would be the smart choice.

Am I dumb?
Who orders Spanish food in France?

The decision still haunts me.

...

My mother, smarter than I, asked the waiter for his reccomendation.
He suggestged the wheel of Camembert cheese
Melted in the oven at 200 C for 20 minutes
With a little bit of chorizo on top.

"Just a little bit on top" he said.

I remember it so clearly.

And after about 25 minutes
My Paella came out.
And the cheese came out.

And I ate my Paella --and it was preety good.
But that cheese... Oh man...
That wheel of fromage camembert de normandie.
That bowl of wonderfully hot, rich, melted camembert cheese
With the little bits of chorizo on top.

That cheese was good.

------------------------

I've tried to replicate this dish, but the result was an insult to my memory.
It is against the law to import unpasteruized milk products into the US.
The french variety isn't an option.

And so camembert cheese remains a treasure to be enjoyed while in France.
Thank you.