Day 5 - Roadtrip

Today's my day off! That means it's time to get up and get the hell out of this hotel for a while. I don't want to set foot in that kitchen if I don't have to. 

We've got the day all planned out: in the morning we're going to go to the market and around noon we're taking the bus to Narbonne. Sounds like quite a plan, right? Wrong.

We arrived at the dike around 10 am. We thought it best to check the hours of the bus before heading off to the market. Then it hit us. The last bus was at 8:15 and the next one came five hours later. Basically, we were screwed.

But then I noticed the time in between two stops. Most stops were only two or three minutes apart, which meant that there couldn't be much distance between them. So instead of waiting for the bus, we started walking towards the next stop, as a means of passing time. The ongoing search for the next stop became like an addiction and before we knew it, we were already leaving Saint-Pierre la Mer and heading into Narbonne-Plage.

The busroute took us through veritable wastelands with little to no signs of civilization. We walked for hours along the A9, which was probably the most deserted highway in all of France. It was pretty fascinating however, to discover all these weird little trinkets scattered alongside the road: countless broken Heineken beer bottles, discarded articles of clothing and even some bodily fluids. Pictures will follow as soon as I'm back home and can enjoy the pleasure of a real computer, instead of an iPhone. 

The Bloodstain

Our little roadtrip lasted two hours and by that time we had passed seventeen (!) busstops. The whole time we were laughing and lamenting on how infinte the road seemed and how we were never going to get home again, you know, your typical whining attitude that you get when things don't look so good anymore. And yet, each time, when we thought for sure we took a wrong turn somewhere and we'd miss our bus, we found the fabled stop after countless minutes of wandering along the deserted A9. 

We took the bus a few kilometres outside of the city of Narbonne and fifteen minutes later we got off at Les Halles. From there we visited the local market - it's strange to think how many markets this place can have, each day there is a full-fledged commune of anxious salesmen and their dubious merchandise. After that, we had lunch in front of the Hôtel de Ville, right next to the old Via Domitia. 

Les Halles de Narbonne

Pas de Tenue Courte

Now for this next part, I should tell you a little bit about what we were wearing. I was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt while Shana wore a mini-skirt and a top, not exactly church-wear, woudn't you say? But that didn't stop us from entering that church - commiting sacrilige in the process. We were immediately gawked at by many a devout Christians, who probably didn't take so kindly to our choice of clothing - or lack of clothing. At some point all we could do was just look at each other and start laughing. Mind you, that we were in the middle of a cathedral.

After having completely disgracing the House of God, we left to do some shopping and continued sightseeing. Another funny thing happened when Shana had to go to the bathroom. I pointed out a public toilet in a parc, so we went there. We were instantly taken aback by the pungent smell of the urinals - which is in fact quite common for the men's room. But the biggest shock of all was when Shana pulled open the door to the ladies' room, revealing a French toilet, complete with a metal arch you could pull down to sit on (photos coming soon). Needless to say, we had to find another restroom, which we found in a seedy snackbar with a woman who apparantly didn't know that 'toilet' in English means the same thing in French. 

I'd love to write some more on our day in Sarbonne, but as it is starting to rain (yes, RAIN!), I'm heading back inside! 

Stay tuned for more travel information! And to my family, who I know is reading this, I miss you guys and I'll see you in a few days!