Sunday

Exhausted (and a wee bit embarrassed) after our recent Clouseau-esque romps through the French countryside in our little car, we decided to spend the weekend closer to home.

Saturday morning is market day in Gignac, our neighbouring, slightly larger village. The ‘esplanade’ in Gignac is a fun place at the best of times – the central island is full of cafe tables and chairs with waiters crossing the road bearing plates and glasses. However on market day it’s a real happenin’ place. The tables are gone, and in place are mobile cheese shops, refrigerated butcher wagons, a wine stall, plenty of fresh fruit and veges, and a good selection of other markety-type stands – hippie stuff (I bought incense), clothes and shoes, trinkets, and even a guy selling yarn. 2 Euros 50 for 100g, and it was untagged, but he described it as a melange d’acrylique et laine (mix of acrylic and wool) so I bought some.

We had to dash back home to meet our landlady, but she had been held up, so after lunch we strolled over to l’ecole to see if the class lists were up. They were! And there was Emily’s name – in one of the CM2 classes. (CM2 is the last year of primary school).

She is handling the imminent ‘rentree des ecoles’ really well. She had a bit of trouble getting to sleep last night but apart from that she seems to be doing okay. Al and I are very nervous. Security is tight at the school – the doors and gate are locked at 9am and reopen at 12 to let the home-lunchers out. They close again at 12.10, and reopen again between 1.50 – 2pm to let the home-lunchers back in. Afternoon school lasts until 5pm, which is hometime for the day.

We have been very impressed by the French appreciation of the importance of rest and leisure. Everything in the village closes at least between 12 and 2, even the police station. The only places that are open are cafes and restaurants, but they have their rest-times too, and you will be out of luck if you want lunch after 2pm (as we did when we arrived last monday). Luckily supermarkets are open all day – there is a reasonably good one in Gignac. Sunday is also sacrosanct here – nothing is open, not even the supermarket. Apparently in some of the larger French cities, you can find shops open, but not in Montpellier. Our French friends, who moved back home from NZ 6 months ago, found that one of the hardest things to get used to – no shops open on Sunday. You just have to organise yourself around that.

On the other hand, it is good to know that you can’t go and do the weekly shop on Sunday (or even hang out at the mall) – you have to do something else, like we are doing as I write this. We are at the Pont de Diable, (the devil’s bridge), which is a very pretty spot on the Herault River, just out of Aniane, where the swimming is excellent, if a little cool, there are loads of little fish including what looks like a young trout, kayaks for hire and enough rocks and channels too keep children of all ages amused. Little ones splosh around in the shallows trying to catch the fish, larger ones jump off the big rocks under the bridge.

The only problem is that the pebbles here on the wide and very clean river bank are rather hard and lumpy to sit on ... We brought an impromtu picnic of nectarines, cut-up cucumbers and red peppers, and chips. The French family sitting next to us are dining al fresco off china plates, with proper cutlery, and are onto their final course now, which looks like (craning my neck but trying not to look obvious) some sort of apple or pear tart .... mmmmm..... we will have to learn to do these things properly ....