the Mediterranean, day I
After Carcassonne we consulted our map
and decided to drive east
through rich farmlands
to the town Agde on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea
where we found a secluded cove with a good panorama and warm black sand.
And plus saltwater is good for the soul.
One of the cliffs, the one here on the left, was almost climbable ...
so we climbed it. Because it's there.
And even though I tend to be acrophobiotic, and even though I was already schlepping all our belongings to the top of the cliff which was already pretty dangerous, I was nevertheless able to take a picture with my "free" hand so you could experience all the treacherousity for yourself:
Terrifying.
Looking down from the top:
Deadly.
And there was a good view of the cove from up here:
Horrifying.
Frightening.
And we could see a parade of sailboats further out to sea.
And plus there were daisies:
So everything was good ...
and then we got back in the car, consulted the map, and drove further east along the coast to the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is pastoral and very beautiful, all marshes and flatlands.
It's named after the three Marys: Magdalene, Jacobe, and Salome who are held by tradition to be the first three witnesses to the empty tomb after the resurrection. Horses are bred here, and the bulls used in bullfighting.
We stopped at this restaurant for dinner, probably the only place currently serving food within 15 kilometers. L had fillet of bull. I had the bull stew.
The restaurant had a filling station with incongruous blue fluorescent lights.
We had trouble finding a hotel with vacancy. In fact, the room we're in now was the last one this hotel had. Which maybe might be because it has no air-conditioning ...
All you need to know about our hotel, except that our room has no air-conditioning, is what the hallway carpet looks like.
In fact ... hypothesis: Given only a hotel's hallway carpet pattern, it is possible to infer everything else about the hotel. Discuss.
