11 June
We had planned to join the Hartleys tomorrow for a day trip in their vintage VW camping van (called Doris Day) to hike and have a picnic lunch. But it’s projected to be incredibly hot with a chance of a thunder storm. Additionally Cat is recovering from a bug; Cat needed to visit her elderly parents to sort some high-emotion things out; they have had unexpected visitors; and too little time alone. We all decide that it’s best to cancel the “Doris day-trip.”
So today is a lazy day for us…
12 June
Pezenas is incredibly crowded and HOT! Fortunately the tall ancient buildings in the ancient city shade the hot sun.
I need to find two more sets of placemats with the same “motif” as what Nancy purchased before she left. At the cork shop, Howard buys a cork belt and I buy a braided bracelet for Patty. I think I am buying placemats with the motif Nancy wants. The nice young man gives us a cork pen as a gift.
We stop at the bakery to pick up Petits pâtés de Pezenas–little mince pastries, a local treat. I buy 4 for Marie since she mentioned to us before we left that she has been making a “meal” of 4 pastries. I also look for a nice card for Marie to send her our feelings of appreciation but don’t find anything that suits the situation. I had hoped the hand-made paper shop would be open but alas… We also purchase a couple of “Languedoc Crosses” to put on the back windows of our cars. Both of our cars were picked up in Paris and driven around the Languedoc region of France before being shipped home. So both cars have window stickers from this region but they are getting faded so now we have new ones.
We have a Tapas lunch: Iberian ham, Iberian sausage, shrimp, fried mussels, squid (we ordered this without knowing what it was–seems like squid has MANY different names), grilled sardines, fresh goat cheese and figs. For dessert we share. sugar and lemon crepe.
After lunch we drive to Domaine Paul Mas to boost our wine inventory.
After I get home I realize that I purchased the wrong cork placemats. So I guess another trip to Pezanas is in our future. (And we may need still more wine.)