Jo-Lynne Sutherland

It was an early morning start - up at 6:30am to catch our train. We’d checked out the station yesterday and noticed that many of the ticket gates weren’t working, so wanted to get there in good time.

We had to drop off the keys first, so headed out at 7:30. Fortunately all went well - gates worked, we were early so got seats. The trains ended up packed - people wandering up & down trying to find seats.

After passing Canne the train inched along as it was literally on about a 15 degree angle sloping towards the sea. We were heading around curves with a sheer drop down to the sea - trees were brushing against the train. The conductor announced in French that this pace was for safety reasons. Needless to say, all was quiet on the train. We could see the road we’d biked along 2 years ago, way down below.

Once the train straighten out, it got back up to speed. At St Raphael lots got off, but it filled up totally again. Seems they just keep selling tickets - so best to get there early and battle your way in.

At Marseille we had an hour between trains, so headed to the sushi restaurant we’d been to 2 years ago when we went from Avignon through Marseille to St Raphael. Good memories.

The train was less full heading this way, but packed once again when we hit Montpellier. 3 hours later, we were surprised to see how many people got off at Agde.

Saida, who was supposed to meet us, was working so she sent her husband - a friendly gregarious guy. He didn’t speak English, so we were happily forced to use our French. Must confess we couldn’t understand most of his jokes.

Trying to be a “super host” he toured us all around Agde, the old city, then to Cap Agde, the modern seaside where we we were staying. Along the way he stopped to chat with a friend who owned a restaurant, perhaps coincidentally? He also kept telling us now was the time to buy a place at the Cap as it was becoming “the place to be” on the Côte d’ Azur. He, of course, had friends who could assist us with our purchase. As we had no idea where we were staying, he actually confused us with his grand tour. It would have been better if he’d started at our place. His best advice was when we arrived at our apartment and he said “To buy groceries turn left, for restaurants turn right.”

As his wife Saida usually meets guests, he had no idea how anything worked in the place. We’ve figured most of it out - the washing machine is something I’ve never seen before - archaic, and how to flush the toilet was a complete mystery. We finally found a small button near the floor that when pushed filled up the toilet, then with a huge noise flushed it, then filled it up again. What a racket.

Initially, we weren’t impressed with the place - smelled stale and looked grungy. After opening the windows, cleaning a bit and looking around, we decided it’s actually quite nice. Very spacious, totally unlike our place in Nice - and even has an oven. The last 2 places only had induction stoves. This one has a good old fashioned electric stove and oven - that actually works well.

Before unpacking we wandered out and happily found a Carrefour super close. Peter even found a nearby park where he can do his pull ups - whatever. He’s a happy guy.

Just to say, I think we’re going to like this place. We’ll know more tomorrowLes mer