It was 9.20ish when i got back. I found 1 place where i could get a cup of coffee, but not a croissant, so I drank my coffee, then I found a croissant in the Tabac and wandered around eating it, looking at all the other eating places ( about 4) of which 2 were vaguely thinking of opening. I went back to the place I was staying, sorted myself out slowly, read a bit, then returned the key, got a sandwich and walked to the busstop to wait for the return bus. I was eating the sandwich as another bus pulled up. Not the one I was waiting for, but the driver still came and told that the bus i wanted was often up to 15 minutes late. She knew because she often drives the route and apparently there are road works. I was pleased to know because if I had not known I might have started to wonder what to do because the next bus was 4 hours later. As an aside, I am a bit surprised that the 4 days trips and this overnight one have all taken more energy than I was expecting. Looking up the timetable, working out when to leave, where there might be a loo, was there a fallback option if the tram or bus didnot come ( they could have called another strike and i might not know) . But it was 4 years ago I was in Paris and that was easy in comparison so it was more than 4 years ago that I did anything like this. Surprisingly i am 4 years older than I was 4 years ago, so maybe I am being hard on myself. Stop smirking S.S.
On the return bus trip I had to change buses and got talking to a lady from US , K. ( I avoid naming people because anyone can read this and I donot have permission etc etc, so it is easiest to have a blanket rule.) She had been in Italy for a conference and was pottering around France house sitting. We got on well, held similar views on lots of things, were interested in similar things and enjoyed talking to each other despite the 2 decade ish age difference. She was on her way to the main railway station in Montpellier to collect a hire car. We got off the tram at my stop,, dumped my bag in my apartment ( where there is a loo- it really is quite difficult sometimes), caught another tram to Gare Saint Roch, I waiting while she dealt with the hire car, which she could leave in the parking station, we walked to a place where I was fairly sure we could get food at 3.30 ish, then we walked a long way round through the narrow twisty winding streets of part of the old town looking in windows. It was about 5.30 i think when we parted company. K had to drive back to where she was staying about 30min out of montpellier, I got the tram back to my apartment.
Today i had a slow start. I have come to the conclusion that I am allergic to something in this apartment. There is wall hanging made of crocheted wool in hoops joined together instead of a bed head. I wonder if it is full of dust. I slept part of the night in my bed and then moved to the lounge at 2 am I was coughing so much. I am usually much better when I am out and about, but the night time effect takes a while sometimes to wear off. I forgot that and went to the hotel where I sometimes have breakfast with the people who stay there. T hey pay 2 to 3 hundred euro more than me a night. So they do not want to be disturbed in the fairly small breakfast room by some coughing. I had an embarrassing situation of really bad coughing, I left my bag and phone and went out into the foyer area, had tears and i think snot streaming down my face, couldnot
stop coughing. The poor lady at the desk got me some water which helped a bit and I finally stopped. I donot think that has ever happened before to me in public as bad as that. After that I went back to my breakfast and ate it very slowly. A NZ couple came in and I talked to them for while. On my way back to my apartment I stopped and looked at the Brocante stalls that set up ner me on Sunday mornings. I am not sure of the direct translation. It is sometimes translated as trash and treasure, but it is different. It is all old, but stuff is nicely displayed, each stall has only a couple of tables and wandering round is plesant. Maybe it is just that I am on holiday.
Tomorrow I pack up ready for an early start on Tuesday.
Looking down towards St Guilhem le Desert
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