We stopped for lunch at Marseillette, squeaking through the lock before 12pm and it closes for an hour. A walk through a field to the main road brought us to the auberge Ô Fil de l’Ô, which provided us with perfection. As is often the way with places declaring themselves “auberge”, they serve a menu “unique”, i.e. there’s no choice. Home-made pâté, warm bread, a pork tomatoey stew thing with herby mashed potatoes, an excellent but anonymous local rosé and pear tart for afters. Just wonderful, especially perfect for a windy and cool day, even if much improved on the rain and cold of the day before.
After this splendid repast, we motored on for a good while until La Redorte. We had a bit of time to wander round, and while a cheerful place in many ways, it was also a bit…weird. A good-sized Intermarché supermarket, nice bakery and butcher’s, huge mairie, and a funky second-hand bookshop. Also, a château that had been converted to a residence de tourisme, but apparently went out of business a few months back. Once again, good services but lack of local population/usage/revenues to maintain them. Strangest of all – no bar/café. I mean, normally you can expect someplace to get a cold beer in a town that has a bookshop, right? Not here.
Timsformational 