17. Esperaza Bike Wash-out, McD's Experiment

Esperaza’s fantastic Sunday market was the goal this morning. This is the most unique market I remember seeing in all our visits, and this would be our last chance to attend Esperaza’s before returning to the USA. It’s also a wonderful 6.5 mile bike ride to/from our home here in Quillan, which is fun to do with Earl and Paulita. Hopes were high … but storm clouds loomed menacingly above our heads! My usual “outdoors activity rule” is to consult the weather radar, see exactly where the storm is headed, and how much time before it’s any concern, the go ahead and DO whatever is planned. I hardly ever get caught out by rain this way. BUT, my method always carries the remote risk of backfiring, and getting soaked in a deluge. Uhhhh, Paulita and Earl reluctantly went along with this, to humor me! 

Us, at my favorite dam en route to Esperaza

We headed out for Esperaza on the bikes, no problem. Made it to my favorite dam for a short photo opp, then met up with Lynn at the Esperaza market site as planned. Locked the bikes to a pole by the bridge, and noticed many vendors’ trucks appeared to be leaving the site, and lots of sales merchandise was not on display. We even had a hard time finding the ubiquitous Coffee Truck! So, I checked the radar (on my phone) again, saw a massive storm front heading towards us, a long way out. Of course we decided to have some Pastry, Coffee Creme, Hot Chocolate, and walk around to see what’s what. Earl and I attended the best Boulangerie I’ve seen around here. We bought the food, spoke some tortured French in the process, and passed the HUGE loaf of Catalan country-style bread near the door that you buy by weight…tell the lady how much you want, she saws off a slab and weighs it, to figure your charge. Tres cool! 

The market was still pretty busy, as many folks buy their food for the week here, so don’t miss attending. The funky New Age type folks were not as present, no exotic music or products on display, etc. After we all finished our drinks and snacks, it began to thunder and lightning…really close after awhile. Then came the heavy rain. Best thing we could do was load the bikes in Lynn’s car, leave Lynn and Paulita to fend for themselves for a bit, then Earl and I drive back to Quillan, dump the bikes, then drive right back to Esperaza to pick up the girls. Sure it wasn’t a good plan, but the best we could come up with in the middle of a lightning storm, so we went with it! 

The plan succeeded, we all ended up back at Earl and Paulita’s home safely, and proceeded to finish off the baked goods from Esperaza with some sea-salted butter and jam, plus some cheese and cake too! Not a bad outcome for my bad weather decision-making. To top it off, a line of equestrians rode their horses by Paulita’s house, heading to the center of town. Great day! 

Equestrians not bothered at all by the rainy day, headed to the middle of Quillan! 

I beat Lynn back to our house by riding instead of driving .What a goofy way to start the day! 

Paulita sent me a photo of a hat on a small tower, to memorialize Esperaza’s history as a big Chapellerie…they used to manufacture hats here in town, and still have a Museum of the history of hats. It’s right next to the Dinosaur Museum, commemorating the dinosaur bones excavated locally in the past. 

The storm eventually went away. Later in the day it seemed prudent to take a drive to a bar in Puivert that was having an Irish music session this Sunday afternoon. I volunteered to drive, and took the wrong road, so we ended up in Limoux, instead.  Lynn and I came up with the idea of experimenting to see if the French version of McDonald’s was anything like the USA version we’re all familiar with. The closest McDonald’s restaurant to Quillan is the one in Limoux (30 minutes from Quillan), so we headed for it. Well, it’s a bit different McD’s, but definitely recognizable. This one required that you order from an electronic kiosk, like the ones in USA, but all in French, of course. We made it through, paid by credit card, and sat at our table. In a few minutes, a waitress brought our meal trays out, wished us a good day, and disappeared. Lynn got a McCrispy Chicken sandwich, and I got some kind of big hamburger on a large whole wheat bun. The food was all decent, chunky fries were tasty, and they even supplied ICE CUBES with our Coke Zeroes. The drinks only come in one size, similar to a “small” in USA, and are served in a non-disposable plastic cup designed to be reused at the McDonald’s…you don’t take it with you, and don’t throw it away or refill it at the restaurant. The fries were also served in plastic reusable holders. Nice that there is so little waste, and so little incentive to over-eat! Experiment over, we headed home, planning to find the old “Blues Brothers” movie to watch on TV tonight.

Planning to record some more of our Quillan daily life details tomorrow, and maybe get a couple more bike rides in before flying home.