Art by Linda Queally: A Two Night Stay in Frontignan in the South of France

On Tuesday, June 28th, our departing day from "Workshops in France", our fearless leader Julie Snyder spent the morning and early afternoon delivering guests to both the TGV and Center train stations in Avignon for their various departures. Some were going on to Rome or Paris, some to other destinations in France, some heading home. Waiting back at the Chateau and helping guests prepare for departure, I watched the sunrise for the first time since I had been there. It was glorious.

After all had been delivered safely, we bid a fond farewell to the Chateau, and Julie and I headed for Frontignan in the South of France, about a two hour drive to the southwest, on the Mediterranean shore. We passed fields of sunflowers,

and RV'ers, to whom I need to give a lot of credit. The streets in the towns and villages are SO narrow that it would be a real challenge to maneuver a vehicle like this.

I watched wistfully as we passed signs for Barcelona. So close, yet so far! Note to self: Must get to Spain on a future visit.

Upon arrival in Frontignan, we connected with our host for our Air Bnb, and got the keys to the apartment. We were located two floors up on a tiny narrow street,

with a view of the rooftops and the birds swooping past our window at sunset. It was charming.

We took a walk around the tiny village to get acquainted, and discovered it sits along the Rhone Sete Canal (sorry for no accent marks on my French here in these posts, but I don't have a French keyboard on my ancient laptop),

which was lined with pleasure boats.

Anyone who follows me knows I always love a good sign. This one is a valid reminder of what happens if you get too close to the edge.

Two of the boats that we passed were playing a game. Kids on opposing boats walked up the plank and batted at each other with some type of baton, to see who could knock the other one off the boat. As a side note, notice that one of the boats says "Muscat". I discovered later when reading about Frontignan that they are known for their Muscat grapes. Had I read that earlier, I would have checked out our their Muscat wine!

Heading off into the village we passed another one of those large "sticker murals", like we had seen in Bonnieux.

In the Town Center sits the historical Hotel DeVille. I learned that this is not a Hotel at all, but rather the Town Hall.

It's surrounded by shops and cafes.

We had a delightful dinner of pizza and salad outdoors at one of the cafes, and then headed home for the night. The next morning, some of the locals on our tiny street hung their laundry out their windows to dry.

while cats napped in windowsills.

We took a drive to Sete and Montpellier, which I will tell you about in my next posts. On our way back into Frontignan, we stopped at the Frontignan-Plage, their beach on the Mediterranean Sea. It was early evening, and a fog had begun to roll in that made the whole place feel enchanted.

It didn't seem to bother beach goers in the least.

I got to dip my toes in the Mediterranean and pick up a few seashells, so I was a pretty happy camper. We had dinner in our apartment that night and enjoyed their Farmer's Market the next morning, which happens every Thursday and Sunday. You can find dried fruits,