We decided to leave Andorra via the opposite way we had arrived – heading south through Spain, then back up into France.  The landscape was equally spectacular this way.

With small villages seemingly sprouting out of the hillsides.

Local Agricultural Show

After traversing the mountains, we spent some time on flatter roads and decided to stop for a break at a small town where we chanced upon a very small agricultural show (of sorts).  Even though we were in France, the music playing and the local language was Spanish.

Twins!

More twins!

And the biggest game of Pick Up Sticks ever.

Pezenas

It was a fairly long drive, around 5 hours, and we arrived in Pezenas in the Languedoc – Roussillon Region a little tired, especially Jeff who was struggling with a head/chest cold which he very kindly passed on to me.  But, all was forgotten when we arrived at the apartment – very comfortable indeed!

We had a very quiet week in Pezenas as we rested to get over our colds, but still got out and about for plenty of photos, shopping for art and of course the markets.

There was a small drawback to Pezenas which I’ll mention at the end.  Stay tuned……

Our apartment was well located across from a grocer and a patisserie – very handy indeed for our morning fresh croissant.

Pézenas is a town steeped in history, with a well-preserved old town centre.

As you can see, beautiful streets in the historic centre.

There is a Toy Museum, as well as a Door Museum, which I was excited to see (you know how much I love door photos), but ironically it wasn’t open.

This historic centre retains a distinct charm with its late 16th century residences and cobbled side streets.  Pezenas is a thriving town with a large and expanding arts and crafts sector – there’s distilleries, tanneries, soap manufacturers, artists, jewellers, iron workers, potters and sculpturs (to name a few) in the maze of small side streets surrounding the main square.

It is this trade that drives the large weekly Saturday market which completely filled the large centre square and surrounding streets.  We loved wandering through the markets (as usual) where you can find all the regional products and so much more.

There’s also a lot of antique and second-hand shops.  There was a very large antique market on the day we were leaving – we didn’t have the time to wander through unfortunately, which blocked off quite a few streets.

The French have the midday meal as their main meal, unlike us, and we are really embracing this custom, not eating at a restaurant every day, but some days just call for it.  This small piazza had so much charm it was hard to resist sitting in the sunshine and people watching while we enjoyed a very nice French meal.

I’m a piano accordion magnet!  Oh, yes I am!  These guys turned up to serenade us at lunch.  Their faces show just how much they love their job…..

And, here they are again on market day, with a plus one who looks equally as enthused as his mates.

So, here we are at the end of this post and as promised, I will reveal the one thing about Pezenas that was not cool.

Dog poop – it was everywhere, making it difficult for leisurely wandering through the cobbled streets, eyeing off the artwork, checking out the patisseries, always looking down even when stepping out of a shop.  This has been the only village/town where this is an issue, well, for us anyway.  Clealy the locals don’t have a problem with it.

Please Pezenas people, pick up your puppy poop!!

Jeff and Catherine xx