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Published: December 11th 2011
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Sundays are lazy days for us. After driving for two days we always look forward to rising and eating late and spend the day just looking around the house and gardens. Our investigations began by looking at the swimming pool attached to our property. We had been assured it was nice and I looked forward to using it during the fortnight as it was still hot enough to swim. It was empty of water but instead full of leaves and mud. The owners assured me that it had only just broken down and would be repaired shortly however it didnt take a genius to work out it had been out of order for some time. I held out no hope of it being repaired whilst we were there. The gardens though were pretty full of lavender bushes, vines and pink and white oleander plants. We sat for a while hoping to see that elusive hoopoe but again it didnt deem to make appearance. Oh well perhaps tomorrow!! We walked after dinner around the beech and oak woods behind the house. Paths seem to lead everwhere and in the middle we found a clearing with a cross on a plinth. These are
Uzes
Place des Herbes all over France some stone,others stone and metal or stone and wood. They commemorate skirmishes in the area and are found in towns, cities, hamlets and at crossroads in the middle of nowhere. The rest of the day was spent watching life in the hamlet below as nighttime came.
Monday - our first full day and we chose our destination to be Uzes a town a bit off the tourist track. It took us a while to get there as the roads here seem to go round in circles and get nowhere. It takes half an hour to travel 10 miles as you go from village to village before arriving at the main D road. Uzes is a pretty little town with a good underground car park. It is well hidden and does not detract. The French are very good at digging deep holes and providing excellent car parking for between 100 and 200 vehicles. They are all clean with self service machines to pay into or even staff to help out if you are stuck. Some have toilets and even music - - admittedly not to my taste. Charles Aznavour or something from the 1940's.
Our first
stop was the local chateau and tower. It was hot so we wanted to get inside for a bit of a breather and to give us the opportunity to work out where in the town we wanted to visit. We missed the hall as the staff rushed us so we concentrated on the tower. It was too close to lunchtime and siesta time for them. Having left the castle we headed for the Place des Herbes a beautiful plane tree filled square. Bicycles were everywhere and it seems that on a Sunday a flower market is held in the square. We ate lunch before promenading in the italian style along the wide boulevards around the town. Good views can be had over the valley from the boulevards.
The highlight of the day though had to be the purchase of cherries on the way home. As we drove along we saw a middle aged French lady pull up in her car outside a farm. She unloaded trestle tables and filled them with cherries just picked on the farm. We bought 1 kg of rich crimson red ones and another kg of the sourer lighter red ones. Our desert that night and the next were the beautiful cherries we purchased. One lovely memory of another holiday.
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