Exploring
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2006
1
61
232
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Felines Minervois,
France
Sunday, June 18, 2006
First things first. We needed to stock up the pantry. We had been told that there was a supermarche in a town called La Redorte to the south of Felines. It was a tortuous route requiring a supreme effort by the navigator in chief to find our way through the vineyards and small villages which all started to look the same after a while. It only took 20 minutes. We had to place a coin in the trolleys...that was a first. There was a fair selection of produce, some of it familiar, but no baked beans. They were unheard of in France. Mr Heinz what have you done...or not done. We picked a bad day. It was chaotic. Obviously the locals do their major shop on a Sunday just like we used to do. There was a long line at the checkout. Surprisingly we found our way back without getting lost.
We went for a short walk around Felines in the evening.. Discovered the butcher [it was never open], the main square, [there was never anyone there], the church [it was enclosed by scaffolding] and the river Ognon. It was the wrong end of town. The bar and the Tabac were around the corner nearer to where we were. Our house seemed to be in the oldest part of town with numerous narrow streets as access. We had to keep the car parked on the main street and walk down to the house. The other side of the main road was more open and on the outer rim of Felines were a few modern homes.[ Modern but still constructed in the same fashion. Unimaginatively rectangular, shutters on peek-a-boo windows and unkempt gardens.]
Anne made a chicken dish for dinner which we ate with a salad and a half brick after the soccer in the bar. Very impressed with Ghana I was that night. The bar lady and I grew to understand my needs as regards ale by the use of sign language. I had two beers during the course of the game at a cost of 6 Euros. After our meal I set up the Acer on a strange cement basin in the corner of the living room by placing the small ironing board over the sink. It was the only surface I could find near a power point.
