Woke up late and left the room late, 11:30. Another nice day, sunny and going to be 22c. Walked out to go to the Paul bakery around the corner but it was shut. Most of the shops were shut today being Sunday, but the other places we’d been like Marseille, and La Rochelle, shops were open on Sunday.
I remembered there was a Paul at the train station and it was on the way to the castle, so we got the tram there after checking it was open. Unfortunately the trams were running to a Sunday schedule and we had to wait for 10 minutes, but weren’t in a hurry. Got to the station, had a couple of rolls and a salad to share, then found the Starbucks. My coffee here cost 5.60 Euro, quite steep.
Walked out of the station to get the tram to the castle but spotted a park, and since it was such a nice day decided to have a look. It was called “Jardin des Plantes” which means “Garden of Plants”. It was very pleasant, lots of flowers, a fountain and a lake, some small waterways with ducks and quite a few people enjoying the garden and the weather. There were also some sculptures and art, including a large bench which straddled the path.
Got the tram to the castle and went in, the courtyard and ramparts were free entry so we walked around them, up and down a few flights of stairs. The castle was unusual in that it was in the centre of town and not on a hill with views across the countryside.
We saw a large church from the castle so headed towards it and found ourselves in the old part of town with alleyways lined with cafes.
The castle and this area were the last things on our list of things to do. It turned out we had visited the church yesterday – whenever we pass one we go in to have a look.
Walked back to the hotel, relaxed for a while then went out again in the evening, walked to a supermarket and noticed there were a lot more people out and about compared with earlier. Hopped on a tram and walked back to the main square and decided to have a couple of crepes, sat outside in the warmth watching the people stroll by, very relaxing.
This was exactly how I’d pictured this part of the trip – sitting in a square in France in the sun watching people enjoying the day. Perfect.