St Remy de Provence

After a well deserved blob day yesterday at home in the rain, we woke to blue skies and decided to venture forth and explore one of Provence's beautiful villages.
St Remy de Provence is just gorgeous. Amelia did her navigation thing with the sat-nav and we found parking at the edge of the town then walked. 

We had no idea what to expect but were hoping for old stone houses, cobbled lanes, and what we imagined as 'French Provencal Character'. We weren't disappointed! 

The very centre of the town has been largely resurfaced with cobbled lanes and tiny shops. We walked along marvelling at the old buildings, then suddenly came across a gorgeous square with houses on 3 sides, a statue in the middle and a black cat, with whom Amelia of course immediately made friends.

It was 12 noon, and our surroundings turned into a ghost town. Shutters pulled, doors locked - displays still outside some shops, obviously a trusting community. We searched for a restaurant - the first few we found were astronomically expensive so we kept exploring until we reached the busier part of town and had a choice. A very nice meal, I loved my steak, Amelia had I think the biggest cheeseburger I've ever seen! The restaurant facilities (it would be lying to call it a bathroom) came straight off the dining room as often happens - no '2 door' between the loo and the public eating area in France. At the end of our meal Amelia came back from the toilet in fits of laughter - she had gone to use the loo, opened the door and walked in, but before she could close the door the waiter followed her in, walking backwards while talking to a customer. Amelia said 'excusez moi!', he turned and saw her and was absolutely horrified, said 'Mon Dieu!'and ran out of the room! we all had a good laugh. 

At right is the restaurant where we wiled away a few hours

After lunch we resumed our wandering, succumbed to some more linen, and finally headed home as it started to drizzle around 4pm.

A last wander before leaving

Arrived to find a note in the door inviting us to drinks tomorrow with our hosts, very nice.
Now Amelia is doing a jigsaw, Paul is reading the NZ Herald on-line, and I'm about to open my kindle and have a cuppa.
A great day!