What’s it like around here on a daily basis? Well, today’s a good example. We woke up late and headed to the main square for the Wednesday Market day, which turned out not to be that massive. So, we stopped by the Coffee Truck, a specially-built food-service van, intended to look like a 40-50 year old Citroen panel truck. It was specially modified with fiberglass panels, to mimic the classic corrugated metal exterior panels used on the originals, then modified inside to be a modern Coffee Truck. It’s famous around these parts, and shows up everywhere we go, it seems. Lynn’s still a hot chocolate drinker, but I’m learning to enjoy “cafe creme” while sitting around enjoying the world walking by! We are totally into the laid-back atmosphere around this place. Then we strolled the market, Lynn found a jewelry-booth lady who was pleased to speak only in French, which is always a fun thing to practice.
Time to walk home…past the interesting public Toilette and Urinoirs in a square near our place. You already know what’s a toilet. Take a guess on the Urinoir……..ready? It’s a stainless-steel wall for guys to pee against, after which clean water washes down the wall to prepare for the next customers. The units are self-contained, and would really be handy lots of public places in lots of countries. I know public restrooms are sparsely available throughout the USA. This could be the next big thing! Just nearby is found the public trash/garbage/recycle center. Everyone brings their own refuse here to sort out and throw away, there’s no garbage truck pickup service. Another nice idea for urban areas.
Lynn and I visited the local castle ruin today, right across the river from our house, but up a steep walkway to the top of the ridge. It was apparently built around the 14th Century, but there have been excavations locating water storage vessels from centuries earlier, so humans have been here, near the Aude River, many thousands of years. The castle is still standing strong, a couple of walls slowly crumbling, but totally abandoned inside. We walked around some, took pics, then headed back down and across the river as some rain moved in!
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| This walk is really STEEP! |
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| We saw and came back as the rain began! |
My fun part of the day was successfully navigating and completing a 50 kilometer/31 mile ride out into the countryside, without missing a turn or getting lost even once. Encroyable! Paulita gave me a great suggestion for bypassing a dangerous descent returning to Quillan, so I had a super-fast drop down perfect pavement to the surprisingly beautiful little village of Brenac, before heading back to Quillan on another tiny road no one else uses much. Favorite French car seen on the route: perfectly presented yellow Citroen 2CV. Was I slow? Uhhh, by some standards, yes. Compared to riding I’ve done in France in previous years, I’m not so hot. But, I’m hammering when I can and still having more fun than anyone else out there!
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| Paulita scoffed at my cool bike clothes, with matching gloves! |
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| 2CV |
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| Random castle ruin |
 | | ...and they thought I would miss the secret turn-off |
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Our evening was sitting on the porch overlooking the whitewater portion of the River Aude, watching the cats who always come here to eat in the morning, and stare at us the rest of the time. Meeting up with Paulita and Earl for pizza and some beer for supper, we know how to party responsibly, and walk home! Seems impossible we’ve been here a week now, hope the next two don’t go quite so fast.
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| White water at our house |
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| Bridge over the River Aude, down from the castle |
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| Pizza dinner with drinks and laughs comparing adventures and stories with Paulita and Earl |
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| Our street at night. Our home is just behind the brightly-lit building at the end |
Love reading about your daily adventures!
ReplyDeleteHi John and Lynn! Thank you for sharing your adventures with us. Such a beautiful place to visit! Continue to enjoy your time there!
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