On Friday night, Carrie and I drove to Narbonne to join Kristen and Amy (who had arrived by train) at Jeanne's house. Erin had thought about joining us, but the trip turned out to be too far and too inconvenient.
After much discussion, we decided to go to Saint Guilhem le Désert on Saturday. I thought that I had not been there before, but as we got closer, I realized that Erin, Dan, Jed and I had visited the village in the rain back in October. Duh!
On the way to the village, we stopped for lunch at a tapas restaurant that Jeanne knows. I had a three-cheese salad as my meal: camembert, chèvre, and roquefort. Yum!
In Saint Guilhem le Désert...
there are flowers everywhere!
Jeanne had just been here on Wednesday, and she had fallen in love with the work of a master santonnier so she took us to meet him. He was adorable, and his work was wonderful. He gave us a tour of his museum and showed us his panorama, pictured below.
It's hard to see all of the detail in the village, but trust me, it's there. This self-taught artist has been the subject of many television interviews and has displayed his work all over France. He has a "livre d'or" of all of the famous people who have visited, but he didn't ask us to sign it. I was tempted to buy some of his santons, but there's no room in my suitcases as it is so I retrained myself.
We stopped for drinks before leaving the village.
We then drove to Narbonne Plage to stick our toes in the Mediterranean. Toes went in and out VERY quickly thanks to the icy waters! Carrie was wearing her bathing suit, but we never saw it.
Kristen, Jeanne, Me, Amy, and Carrie at Narbonne Plage
Can it really be time to say goodbye, les filles? We missed you, Erin! Girls' weekend wasn't the same without you.
I'll take one of these, please! Not really! I can't swim and do not just love the water. The boats are beautiful, though.
The port at Narbonne Plage
A trip to the sea would not be complete without moules frites!
I discovered café gourmand on this trip too. How many desserts are there on this platter? I think that's five, if you don't count the whipped cream separately! Definitely worth six euros!
Carrie left early Sunday morning, but the rest of us had the time to do a little more sight-seeing. We ended up visiting the Canal du Midi in the village of Somail not far from Narbonne.
The Canal du Midi is listed as one of France's twenty-seven World Heritage Sites.
I loved this vine-covered restaurant.
We sought the shade whenever we could on Sunday. The water is still cold but the outdoor temperatures are quite hot.
A floating épicerie
Amy, Jeanne, and Kristen
I will miss the lovely, inviting café tables in France.
One final stop---Narbonne's lively market where we bought pizza and fruit and met the rugby player who owns a popular hang-out inside. Vive the south! Thanks for a fun weekend, Jeanne!
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