Had to get up early to pack the boat. We took a taxi back to the train station in Beziers to get the rental car. Dave upgraded to get us AC. €20 total. So worth it in this heat!
Dave drove us back to Le Someil to by the painting I wanted, only to find them closed. So we sat down at the restaurant and managed to correctly order the pork sausage we wanted from several days previously. It wasn’t on the menu by itself, but they were willing to bring us a plate full of it.
We ran into the Seattlites again, because they had headed off in this direction. After lunch, still no luck with the gallery opening. So I called them on the phone, and despite the language barrier, managed to explain that I was there to buy a painting: “Je suis ici. Je d'achat la peinture”. Vous overt?”. (Yes I know the grammar sucks but I was hoping the meaning was clear.) After some French I didn’t follow she said in English “One O’Clock”. At 1:15 she still wasn’t there, so I called again, and she said “12 minutes”. Hmmmm. I bet she meant 1:30 but didn’t know how to say it. A few minutes later she arrived, and was able to communicate that she is normally closed on Mondays. Ah. That would explain it! None the less, the painting was still there and we bought it! Success at last!
Spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Avignon. The city wall and palace are fairy tale like. Sufficiently massive that it is difficult to take pictures that convey the size and incredible stone work. Downside is that the place is filled to bursting with tourists and shops. We had a sandwich and a glass of wine and watched the tourists for a while.
Drove to the Auberge du Presbytere in Saignon. Along the way, I saw a town on a distant hill. A disintegrating castle surrounded by ancient houses on a high hill. I thought to myself, wow, I would love to stay there. Low and behold, that is where the Inn was! The view from the hill was spectacular! Dinner at the Inn was amazing. The flan with scallops caused Dave to go into eye rolling ecstasy. And the restaurant was absolutely darling. And they had WIFI!
