Another late start, didn’t leave the room until around 10:45, then straight to the market to get some brunch and some stuff for dinner – we don’t like a lot for dinner so will have it in the room. Weather was perfect; sunny, 10c but going to get to 22c later.
The market was virtually empty, a big change from Sunday, obviously the weekend is the busiest time. A lot of stands were closed, but luckily for Song the seafood place was open so she had oysters and prawns for brunch. I wasn’t very hungry and didn’t eat, would find something later, we were heading to another market on the tram, the one we passed yesterday that was closed.
We picked up some stuff for dinner, some pate, then went over the road to the patisserie and got a roll, a baguette and some more cakes, they were irresistible.
Dropped the food back at the hotel then walked to the tram to go back to where we were yesterday, and to the other market for my lunch. This place was packed, with lots of food stands and lots of young people eating and drinking. There was a lot of variety; tapas, burgers, steak, South American food, some seafood. I had a pulled pork sandwich with brioche bread and a glass of red wine.
We left the bustling market and walked along the promenade to the Starbucks as we did yesterday, it was now getting hot. Walked past an open-air art place with lots of metal sculptures, took more photos because the ones yesterday were in dull weather.
Decided to leave the promenade and walked to the back streets that ran parallel, and it was really pleasant – very quiet and peaceful, very few people around and some nice old apartment buildings.
We carried on a while and found ourselves back at the square where we had lunch yesterday. Feeling very tired, maybe because it was pretty warm now, walked back to the promenade to get the tram back to the hotel, we’d been out for 4 hours.
Got on the tram opposite a young woman, then an older woman sat next to her opposite me and had her shopping trolley in the aisle, blocking it. The young woman said something about it and it all kicked off. Both women arguing and shouting at each other, then there was a bit of shoving. There were plenty of other seats, one opposite the woman’s son, which Song pointed to. So the older woman started to have a go at us. I just smiled and said “I’m English, I don’t understand”, but she kept going so I just said “keep talking, I have no idea what you’re saying” and smiled. She turned her attention intermittently between me and the other woman, arguing about something, I just kept saying “go on, talk away, I still don’t understand you”. Other people on the tram were looking and laughing at the fact that she kept talking to me even though I kept saying I didn’t understand. The young woman got up and there was more shoving, then the older one got up and left. A bit of excitement.
Got off the tram and walked back to the hotel, feeling very tired, I think all the walking has taken a toll, so we just stayed in, had dinner and packed up. Tomorrow we get the train to La Rochelle, a small town 2.5 hours away, we stay there for 2 nights; the days of rushing around are over, we’re taking it easy from now on. The only thing we have planned is the Louvre when we get to Paris, it gets so busy they advise to book a time to go in.