Saturday, September 26

We heard the Saturday market in Pézenas was not to be missed. So after breakfast and a bit of school work we hopped in the car and drove the 15 minutes there. Parking was impossible, when we finally found a spot (and yes, I was driving) I parked the car and off we went. It was not hard to find as it meandered for blocks and blocks and more blocks through the centre of town. There was food and clothes and baskets and flowers and pretty much anything else a person needed.

Saturday Market in Pézenas.

We strolled for a bit stumbled across the old  Hôtel des Barons de Lacoste building that is pictured in all the Pézenas literature. Built in the 16th century in the centre of the medieval town it has amazing vaulted renaissance ceilings, and was used as a theatre in the 17th century. Today it is used as an art gallery for one of the local well known artist.

Hôtel des Barons de Lacoste in Pézenas built in the 16th century.

We decided to break for lunch and and then hit the visitors centre as this town is the closest to us and we figured it would have the best information for local activities. We leisurely finish our lunch and stroll to the visitors centre only to find it closed – it has not sunk in yet that most things close midi (midday) from at least noon to 2:00pm if not noon to 4:00pm. Luckily for us it was reopening at 2:00pm and we only had an hour to kill. So we separated, boys went off to do their thing and the girls went their way.

Streets of Pézenas.

Shelby and I returned to the spot at the market where we saw some cute pants for her, then we tootled around some more and decided we deserved a break. Found a great little macaron place, Shelby has a weakness for anything lemon so she eyed the lemon meringue and I had a yummy macaron and cafe au lait.

Girls shopping break in Pézenas.

We met the boys back at the visitors centre at precisely 2:00pm and found out they only made it across the street to the Musée de Joeux (Toy Museum).

We had some quiet time at home then after dinner we decided to take a walk through Servian to finish off the night. Right at the start Shelby says “I hate walks”, I’ say “what is there to hate? what’s a matter with you? some people can’t walk, don’t take it for granted!”. So we strolled down to where the village levee surrounding the town is and about 1 minute in we began dodging dog poop. We decided to switch sides of the levee as it seemed less littered with poop, however we were hit with something even more repulsive…the stench that comes with dog poop. It seemed to envelop us entirely. The kids were not quiet about their disapproval of the funky odour. For a little guy Max can be the loudest of the bunch. We kept checking our shoes to make sure that it wasn’t on one of us as we couldn’t shake the scent, nope, it was just in the air for a long, long, long time. Shelby eventually says “this is the worst walk EVER!”, yup, it was the worst walk ever. We finally ducked back in to the centre of town criss crossed through some narrow streets and shook the scent. Every morning the street cleaner is heard while we are still in bed or just getting up, perhaps this is an area he skips, but sadly it really, really should be added to his list. After washing dishes and bathing two kids I had to hop in the shower before bed to get that icky feeling off.