Wild, Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away from the Camargue.

Monday, September 9th, 2019 (Day 3) ...

We travelled south about an hour to the seaside town of Saintes-Marie de la Mer in the Camargue on Monday morning to meet up with our Belgian friends Madame M and Monsieur Guy (who were travelling in Spain & France). 

We arrived a few minutes early ... it was super busy! 

Finally found a parking spot on the waterfront ... we wandered along the boardwalk with views of the diamonds dancing on the water.

We easily met up with our friends at the appointed place ... Hotel de Ville.  

After hugs and introductions between both sets of friends, Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark went off to the busy market, while we found a nearby café for a drink and “catch up”! 

Old friends sharing laughs and memories! 


Once all six of us were together we wandered thru the town checking out the usual souvenir  shops ...

Will this be as close I get to seeing the pink flamingos? 

                                  
We settled on a fantastic restaurant for lunch (déjeuner) A Le Fleur De Sel - Chez Alexandra 

Delicious food, wonderful presentation & service! 

 My choice was the most delicious surprise ... a new twist to moules frites 

“Poêlon de moules, farci à l’Aioli, potatos maison” description on the menu ... we translated it to be a skillet of mussels cooked in aioli with house made potatoes! 

The mussels were presented as escargot would be! Yummy! 

   
After our “dejeuner” we strolled the streets and then headed for a walk along the beach promenade.
A beautiful entrance step decorated with colourful tiles ...

Poet’s Bar 




Street art ...

Oh what do you think is in that courtyard? 

It was a fun day of visiting with friends at the seaside.

The roads thru the Camargue are lush with vegetation ... pampas grass, gigantic bamboo and various trees. 



Trying to get caught up in posting about our travels ... maybe on the weekend I will find some time! 

Out and About in Saint Rémy de Provence

Sunday, 8th of September ...

Our first full day in Saint Rémy de Provence. 

We all awoke fresh after a good night’s sleep in our super comfortable beds/ bedrooms.

Today we ventured out to explore/ familiarize ourselves with the town. 

Our location is primo with easy access to everything Saint Rémy de Provence has to offer. It’s just a few steps down our lane to the Main Street ... ring road circles the Centre with many pedestrian streets in the interior.

                                  

                                                     

The beautiful lanes are lined with fantastic boutiques, speciality shoppes selling everything from sweet smelling aromatics to sweet tasting treats! 

                                                   



Here we were tempted by free tastings ... nougat anyone? 

Madame Susan’s sweet tooth was intrigued and she purchased a sliver that became a slab for €17.

This was reminiscent of our first experience purchasing cheese at a market ... where the seller offered us “Un petite goût”! A small taste was a very expensive experience and we still talk about the “ Golden cheese”! 

Now we can regale our friends with the “Golden Nugget”story. 

                   

Every so often we lost “Les Monsieurs” as they lusted over various automobiles! 

Nostradamus is everywhere ... here he is sitting in the window.


              

Ah Monsieurs do you want a pedicure? ... 

Les poisson dit “mais non! The fish said “but no”! 
 

What’s the libation / aperitif of the day? 



A ricard for the men, « kir pour moi et une Biere pour Madame Susan »!
  


Time for lunch at the Brassiere du Commerce overlooking the Place de la Republique facing the carousel. 

Team Monsieur chose the lamb as their main course, their entree was a delicious pâté plus dessert! 

Les Madames selected the fish dinner.

Back to the comfort of our « Home Away from Home » at Mas d’Oscar for an afternoon of rest, relaxation and sunshine! 

Tîme for me to get my book / iPad and join everyone ... the view from my bedroom down below to the courtyard!

Tonight’s  light dinner ...  was delicious and even  better because our «  Monsieurs « the loves of our lives had prepared this tasty meal of nibbles!

                                        

Finally time to say “bon nuit” from Saint Rémy de Provence! 
 



 

Are We There Yet?

We each left our homes Friday, September 6th, 2019 from different directions heading to the airport with one detour into Guelph for the Brennans so Sheila and Walter could vacation with their foster parents, Julie & Lisa.

We arrived within a half an hour of each other.  Checkin, baggage drop off, security screening all went smoothly (also known as slick) for both couples. 

We met at our departure gate, then it was time for some refreshments & a bite to eat. 

Our travel day aka ...  “Hurry Up & Wait Day” certainly held up to it’s name! 

Toronto’s departure went off without a hitch. 

On arrival in Montreal we were held on the tarmac waiting for a gate! 

At least 45 minutes!

Passengers with connecting flights including us were anxious that they would miss their connection. 

Also, would our luggage make the connection? 

Credit cards were at the ready to buy the necessary items, underwear, etc!

Finally, we disembarked in Montreal (our 2-hour plus layover had quickly disappeared) ... 

Our connecting flight was boarding in minutes at the furthest gate from where we had disembarked! 

Hurry up! 

Ah we made it!  Finally time for take off and away we go! 

We landed in Barcelona on time along with 1000s of others. 

I’m not  sure how many planes had arrived, but passport control was backed up and more travellers kept descending from the escalator to customs.

We lined up weaving in and around the roped off areas just like cattle lines. 

Passports stamped and entry permitted, next stop baggage pickup! 

The delay at customs had it’s advantages ... our luggage  was waiting for us at the carousel! 

Hurray, now off to pickup our car. 

This did not go so smoothly. 

Once all sorted we were on our way for the anticipated four and a half drive to Saint Remy-de-Provence. 

 Only one short pit stop on the way for a quick sandwich and we finally arrived at 6:30PM.

With a couple turns around the ring road not finding our destination, we just parked and called Genevieve and set out on foot looking for the lady in the white dress (one of many ladies in white)!

After meeting Genevieve our landlady and an introduction to Mas d’Oscar, the four of us walked two minutes to our local supermarket for some immediate provisions ... wine, bread, cheese and a few other necessities.

Our first apero night! 

Les Monsieurs ...

Monsieur Mark 


Monsieur Honey 
 

After 36 hours of travel time (mostly awake) we were off to sleep. 

Goodnight everyone! 

Tomorrow we will be off to discover the town.