Sus talpa domestica parva

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

As promised by the weather forecast, it had rained from Thursday to Sunday last week. Fortunately, the weather frogs of this country had made a small mistake in the amount of rain! Because it didn't rain from morning till evening and all night long. We had some dry breaks at reasonable intervals, which kept David and me 'above water' in the truest sense of the word.

But even the campsite in Apt, where we had been since Wednesday afternoon, offered us some amenities that helped us get through the bad weather period. Electricity, Wi-Fi and showers are things we truly appreciate after this holiday.

And even outside this bubble, Apt presented a really nice picture.

Nevertheless, most of the time we sat in Rosti, the old stalactite cave, working on our portfolio, application and medical test, and took advantage of the short breaks to hurry to one of the nearby supermarkets and ensure the food supply for the next few days.

When the rain finally stopped, we stared stoically at the sun, the beautiful stranger. Eventually, we managed to tear ourselves away and head for the only destination that we still remembered after four days of rain.

La Mer

A short Google search later, we could already come up with a beach spot, which we promptly headed for.

The journey offered a fascinating view of l'Étang de Berre, a huge bay where the city of Martigues lies (at least for the passenger). The whole area reminded me a lot of my – not too long ago – encounter with the Californian coastal region around San Francisco. Pine trees and fir trees, cliffs and beaches, many bike paths... in my opinion, pretty ideal. And it awakened in both of us the desire to make another detour to Frisco someday (when Trump is no longer president). After all, there are also a lot of game developers gathered there.

In any case, we settled in Carro (which still belongs to Martigues) on a motorhome parking lot right by the sea. The view and the light were a balm for the soul, and the sea air made me really miss the childhood vacations at the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. Despite a temperature of 'only' 16°C outside, we grilled well in Rosti, and I believe my skin is slowly taking on a healthy color!

Surrounded by about 78 other motorhomes, the whole situation had more of a mass migration-meets-parking lot character. The residents of the mobile homes in various colors (white) and shapes (round in front, square in the back) are of course an interesting bunch. The Ruhr area retirees pair with a dwarf dog hits the nail on the head. Or like the couple next to us, with a pet with the stature of a piglet and the eyes of a mole (by the way, I named this blog entry in their honor).

But all our neighbors were naturally nice and reserved as always, a little intimidated because they were not sure if we were old enough to drive a car.

Occasionally, we also receive admiration. For example, this morning when we – in our youthful recklessness – plunged into the still icy waters of the Mediterranean (we have proof photos!). Present French tourists even applauded us.

So far, we haven't caught a cold, urinary tract infection or anything similar! We're doing really well. Especially now that we are back in always warm Saint-Rémy and have finally visited the local museum.

I'm getting tired now... before you notice it in my writing style, I better put a period here.

You'll surely hear from us again soon. Maybe even from Germany. ;)

Until then,

David, Lotti and Rosti