Today we went into the Cevennes to take the Petit Train a Vapeur (steam train) from St. Jean du Gard to Anduze and back again. The journey to St. Jean du Gard was very scenic and enjoyable. Jim had me up at the crack of dawn so it wasn’t surprising that we were in St. Jean du Gard an hour and a half before the train was due to leave. Jim takes punctuality very seriously!
On the train we were locked into an open carriage with 6 other people. Only the conductor was allowed to pass through the carriages. It was a lovely trip - 40 to 50 minutes each way.
The bambouseraie that we visited later - it did have bamboos, honest!
Trying to get a photo between the metals on the bridge.
On our way to La Bambouseraie (a bamboo garden) we passed over this bridge - Pont des Abarines.
Power walking among the bamboos to make up for more than 2 hours sitting!
A replica of a Laotian village.
Rashers! Another one was in the corner snoring loudly!
Everything made of bamboo.
One area of the garden that was particularly beautiful was called La Vallee du Dragon. The colours were spectacular. The photos probably do not match the reality.
There was a tiny frog on a water lily that was making a sound that you would think was coming from something hundreds of times its size! It was too close to the colour of the water lily that Jim could not get a good photo of it.
A huge spider’s web (art installation) among the bamboos.
This morning before we left we noticed that Calvisson was gearing up for some sort of an event with stalls being set up all over the square. By chance I noticed one of the frequenters of our local bar - I call him Jackie Beattie because he bears a resemblance to Jack Beattie in Raphoe - and I asked him what was going on. He replied “La journee du Terroir”. It was going on all day so we were back in time to have a look round - lots of bull stuff and handicrafts and charcuterie.
Because our receptacle for putting the keys in on our departure has been stolen another plan has been arranged. We are to put the keys in the letterbox of a friend of Sylvia’s - Fiona - who lives on the same street as the pub we frequent. We had tried to visit her yesterday but succeeded today where we had a lovely chat about the area.
And now for tea - we had a plat du jour before we left St. Jean du Gard so little is required!
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