DAY 24: MARKET DAY (AGAIN), STARBUCKS IN NIMES (and a couple of disappointing attempts)

 APRIL 29, 2023

This is our 3rd Saturday Market day. Deidre wanted to shop for a few things for the kids, I thought I could take a few more market photos.

There is a large selection of products for sale.  Here are just a few.

The market incorporates just about all the streets and squares in the downtown area, "starting" at the end of our street. And its very busy:

By 11 AM we had satisfied our market interest and headed off to Nimes. Why? Because the nearest Starbucks was at the Nimes railway station, and we missed our American coffee. We both find French coffee a bit disappointing. (Plus we are a bit tired of paying $4 for a thimble of coffee.)

This was our third visit to Nimes, but we had not visited the railway station. And Starbucks did not dissapoint.

They even had Deidre's favorite cake (although it was a bit dry)

After our coffee, we wandered out of the station onto Ave Feucheres (or is it the Esplanade Charles de Gaul?) and all the way to the Fontaine Pradier. The center section of the avenue was a pedestrian mall. It was a perfect day, we just sat at the base of the fountain and took in the sights. 

The Fontaine Pradier

I do wonder why she has a house on her head. 

While relaxing in Nimes we had a look at our tourist map for any "site remarquable" in the area, and found two that looked interesting - one referred to as Olivette and one "Reserve Naturelle des Gorges du Gardon." We located them on Google and spent an hour of driving. We did not know what to expect at Olivette but did not find it anyway.  The road towards the other site remarquable just progressively deteriorated into a track and we gave up. So we headed home.

I needed a few steps (the end of the week is fast approaching) so I went for a walk/hike in the local valley/park in front of the cathedral. I had walked in the area before, once with Kylie and once with Don, but this time I wanted to try and do a circumnavigation. It was a fun walk but eventually I started to get lost. Fortunately I found a fellow walking his dog (who spoke good English) and we enjoyed a fun conversation, ending up with good directions home, plus an invitation to Deidre and I to meet at 11 AM for drinks the next day. 

We had recently been able to buy raw chicken (that looked like chicken we were used to) and Deidre made a great chicken, potatoes and fresh vegs dinner. For desert she had purchased 4 small containers of Crème Brulé. Turns out it was tapioca. Deidre tossed hers out.