Small photoshoot on the side

Monday, March 20, 2017

Hello everyone,

We haven't been in touch for a long time, have we?

On March 10th, we unfortunately had to leave Saint-Rémy. Not because we had enough of it, but simply because our toilet was full and there was no service station for miles around. So we drove 15 kilometers further to a place called Beaucaire, for a private parking space with a disposal station for the chemical toilet, electricity and other amenities. Well, that's just how it goes sometimes.

Our parking space was very nicely located and the weather was great, but the town of Beaucaire itself wasn't really nice to look at. It does have a very well-preserved castle and a favorable location on the Rhône, but it seems they didn't make much use of it. Everything seemed a bit gloomy and boring, and despite the historic and well-preserved houses, the residential areas seemed somewhat impoverished.

And when it started raining on our second day there, we hurriedly fled back to Saint-Rémy, where we spent some more time until the 15th. But there wasn't much to mention besides a few walks and a lot of study preparation.

Once again in search of some variety and the amenities of a campsite, we headed towards Salon-de-Provence on Wednesday. However, the campsite was 4 km away from the actual town, so we did our shopping and refueling on the way there. On the site, which seemed to belong to a former farmhouse, we were able to take showers and dispose of more wastewater, but our impression of it was somewhat clouded by the failed human interactions with its owners.

Due to the speed and accent of the speakers, David and I were slow to respond. But the campsite owner and the three older women present didn't really care about that. Their impression of us was simply: these tourists nowadays, who don't speak French anymore. But we understood everything they said about us! They went on talking about us for a while - right next to us - and we paid the price for camping and Wi-Fi (for only one device!!!).

In many ways, this parking space was one of the strangest ones so far. A neglected-looking dog with a ripped chain came towards us at regular intervals. And one morning, as I came out of the restroom, a man walked past me wearing only a bathrobe and holding a Jack Daniels bottle...

In any case, we didn't have to think about extending our stay there. But we made some progress with our work and the good weather put us in a good mood for our first photoshoot for David's job application photo (see pictures).

Our next destination was the small community of Lacoste (which has nothing to do with the company or the tennis player). It is located near the more well-known Provençal town of Apt, which David already knows from a previous vacation in Provence. On our way there, we saw two young hitchhikers by the roadside and decided to take a chance and pick them up. The two were only a few years older than us and wanted to go to Castaillon, a town that the navigation system said was on our way. So we invited them and quickly introduced ourselves (although we didn't even ask for their names... just occurred to me). This introduction took long enough to distract me from my role as navigator, and we promptly missed the correct exit to Cavaillon at the next roundabout. So we had to take a detour (after all, we had already promised to take them there) and the two of them probably wished they had gotten in with someone else after the 20-minute drive.

Nevertheless, they were extremely nice and we had a good conversation in English. They are both studying in Marseille (and shared our opinion about the incomprehensible southern French dialect) and were currently taking part in a three-day geocaching competition in the region, where they had to find clues at various locations (a kind of GPS scavenger hunt). We also talked about the differences between Germany and France, especially in traffic, and had a laugh. In any case, we are glad that we finally had our first longer conversation with locals (since Pierre).

Lacoste itself is a pretty sleepy and deserted little village. Our free parking space is beautifully located, under a few dreamy trees and with a view of the entire valley below the village. There are apparently two cafes and a restaurant, but apart from the Office de Tourisme, which also functions as a library, nothing was open. The well-preserved castle ruin at the very top of the hill now belongs to some fashion designer (not Lacoste!). And probably half of the remaining buildings do too. Additionally, the amazing medieval buildings are probably inhabited by snobby American students and professors in the summer, as the private Savannah College of Art and Design offers its students study abroad semesters in Lacoste. A look through the windows gave us a shudder, as the furnishings of the student residences resembled the set design of some Nickelodeon series rather than a beautiful medieval town in Provence. And in our minds, student life and expensive furnishings and luxury simply don't go together.

In any case, you can tell that there's not much to do in Lacoste.

Yesterday, we visited the 'Belle Brocante' flea market in Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt and spent some time in the sun at a nice little ice cream café. The actual market was nice, but not necessarily to our taste. 

Today, we were at the Office de Tourisme/Library, which also serves as the post office in Lacoste. We ordered chemicals for our camping toilet at their computer and will have it delivered to the post station of the neighboring town (very complicated, I didn't really understand it either). And since there is no supermarket (or even a bakery) in Lacoste, we are currently sitting in Apt, in a café with Wi-Fi, after our big grocery shopping.

Starting from Thursday, it's supposed to rain for a long time and get cold... Wishing us dry weather in Rosti! But until then, maybe we've already made it to a place with electricity (and heating). We'll see.

You'll hear from us soon, promised!

Until then,

David, Lotti, and Rosti