Laravel looks to insert records in a table that does not exists

Question

It's since two days that I'm trying to solve an issue that i face when i try to insert a record in the DB.

I'm building a project where an admin can create a list of places to visit for users.

I have created 3 tables and relative models as follow : places , place_categories, category_places (this the pivot table).

places table has the following inside :

 Schema::create('places', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->timestamps();
            $table->string('google_place_id');
            $table->unsignedBigInteger('property_id');
            $table->foreign('property_id')->references('id')->on('properties');
        });

And the Place model has the following :

protected $fillable = [
        'google_place_id',
        'property_id'
    ];

    public function property(){
        return $this->belongsTo(Property::class);
    }

    public function category(){
        return $this->belongsToMany(PlaceCategory::class);
    }

The place_categories table has the following code :

 Schema::create('place_categories', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('name');
            $table->timestamps();
        });

the PlaceCategory model has the following :

 protected $fillable = [
        'name'
    ];

    public function place(){
        return $this->belongsToMany(Place::class);
    }

While the pivot category_places table has the following :

 Schema::create('category__places', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->unsignedBigInteger('place_id');
            $table->foreign('place_id')->references('id')->on('places');
            $table->unsignedBigInteger('category_id');
            $table->foreign('category_id')->references('id')->on('place_categories');
            $table->timestamps();
        });

And the Category_Place has the following code :

   protected $table = 'category_places';

    protected $fillable = [
        'category_id', 
        'place_id',
    ];
}

In my PlaceController, in the store method i wrote the following :

public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $googlePlaceId = $request->input('google_place_id');
        $propertyId= $request->input('property_id');
        $categories= $request->input('categories');
        

        $place = Place::create([
            'google_place_id' => $googlePlaceId,
            'property_id'=> $propertyId,
        ]);

        $place->category()->attach($categories);

        return redirect()->route('home', ['property'=> $propertyId])->with('message', 'Place correctly created');
    }

Now, when i try to insert a new place with relative categories i keep getting the following error :

SQLSTATE[42S02]: Base table or view not found: 1146 Table 'myhosthtl.place_place_category' doesn't exist
insert into `place_place_category` (`place_category_id`, `place_id`) values (1, 3)

So he's looking for a table called place_place_category that obviously does not exist, but where do he get this table from? I have also declared the protected $table in my Category_Place model.

After debugging a bit the code, i found out the the error i thrown at line 63 in the store method at this line :

  $place->category()->attach($categories);

It seem like he cant find the place_categories table, but he should insert in the category_places the record for the pivot, not in the places_categories.

Is there anybody able to help me? What Am i doing wrong?

Thank you so much for your help.