Return to Aigues-Mortes!

Lundi, 30 juin.

Yesterday, Molly and I were generously invited to tag along with the group of William & Mary students currently studying abroad in Montpellier on a day trip to Aigues-Mortes and a local beach. We've visited Aigues-Mortes before (you can read about that trip here), but when opportunity knocks -- and especially opportunity happens to be a free trip to a beautiful historic seaside town -- you answer!
 

Look familiar?

Since Molly and I had already done the touristy thing, we opted out of another tour of the city ramparts. Instead, we walked around the interior of the city, popping into souvenir shops and -- of course -- stopping for sugary snacks. We decided that after a long morning of walking (and twenty-one years of penny-pinching), we deserved two scoops ... I'll have framboise and caramel buerre salé, please!

We ended up with two pastries from a local boulangerie. The first, pictured on the left, was a chocoframboise and struck me as the equivalent of a nutella-and-banana crepe ... that is, something utterly unauthentic concocted particularly for sugar-seeking tourists. However, the combination of chocolate and raspberry is never anything to scoff at! Molly and I scarfed down the chocoframboise -- which actually tasted a lot like the strawberry-and-chocolate-chip scones I make at home -- like it was our job.

The second pastry, pictured on the right, was called a concorde. It, too, was a total surprise and Molly and I had no idea what to expect when we unwrapped the box. As it turns out, a concorde is basically a mousse-filled meringue ... all the little swirls on top are just shavings of chocolate meringue! Although it was a little crunchier than we had expected, the whole thing was the perfect chocolaty mixture of bitter and sweet. Two thumbs up!!

Molly knows that when in an ancient walled city, there is only one acceptable place to eat delicious pastries. But hey, it says interdit de monter ("climbing forbidden) not interdit de manger ("eating forbidden"). WHICH REMINDS ME -- PLEASE NOTE THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION, AKA THE BEST I'VE SEEN IN FRANCE YET. "Do. Not. Stair." Just don't do it. Don't stair.

After illegally stair-ing (on Molly's part) and doing a little souvenir shopping (on my part), it was time to head out to our next destination (la plaaaaaage) and leave Aigues-Mortes behind. It was sad to say au revoir to what just might be one of my favorite little places, but the view from the bus made me feel a little better...

After a short bus ride in which Molly and I failed to complete a French crossword puzzle, we got to the beach. I don't have anything to say about this beach. I'm not entirely sure where it was located or what happened there in the past or what type of sand is found there, but I am entirely sure that it doesn't matter. What matters is that I walked across the sand, laid down on my towel, and dozed off while listening to the waves and the seagulls.

And what matters even more is that it looked like this...