On of the interesting critters here (in addition to scorpions and wild boar) are these really large black bees. Apparently they do not sting and they spend a great deal of time getting the nectar from the flowers in front of the house.
While Jim and Judy did a "short" 5.5 hour hike in the hills outside of St. Saturnin Charlotte and I drove to the city of Aix-en-Provence, which is about an hour drive from here. The first challenge was to find the parking garage close to where we wanted to be in the city. We found the entrance and looked for the green signs and lights indicating where the open parking spots are. After a few turns and when we thought we were headed to available spots we ended up at an exit and could not turn around. So we got to go out of the garage, get our bearings and try again. This time we were very successful in finding a spot within a few minutes.
The exit from the garage put us in a fairly new shopping area with lots of stores and lots of people. As we got closer to the Place du General de Gaulle (a large roundabout with a spectacular fountain in the middle) the size of the crowds increased dramatically. For a town of 140,000 it looked like most of the towns people were out and about. Aix is a very large college town and there were a lot of young people in the stores, streets and cafes.
We took a tour in the "petit train" which takes you around the old part of the city and you get to see quite a few of the sights. Since our time was limited this 45 minute excursion was well worth it.
At 4PM we met our friends from Montreal who we met two years ago when we stayed in Vaison-la-Romaine. We got a chance to have a nice but short visit with them. They were just ending their three week vacation in France and they were heading home tomorrow.
Steve was very happy because they had moule et frites (steamed mussels and french fries). Charlotte ordered a poullet (chicken) dish but they were out of chicken - how is that possible? So she and Helen went to Plan B - a salad without chicken.
Tomorrow we tackle a hike in the Luberon Mountains just a short drive from here.
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