Today, we took it easy. Instead of running from castle to castle, we decided to just go into the city and to see what city life is like. We went to Norbonne, and thankfully Cyndie was driving. We managed to find a parking spot that didn’t involve parking on the sidewalk, and then just walked around. A lot of shopping districts with small roads that are better as pedestrian walkways. We also came across an outside market selling everything from food to clothing. They appear pretty common around France. Cyndie brought Tadoi, her dog on the trip. In one area we found an inside market that reminded me of Nathanial Hall in Boston. No dogs were allowed, so Cyndie waited outside while Amy and I checked it out. Pretty interesting but I think speaking French would be required to buy anything. We also saw one man at a bar drinking with a dog. Poor Tadoi, as it appears that no on actually enforces the rules. In fact, we had good luck finding restaurants that would allow Tadoi to come in.
After exploring Norbonne, we headed to Gruissan, another small beach town. It is much less crowded than others, but has a nice large beach. Tadoi had a great time running in the sand. We also came across para-boarders. I’m not sure if that is the right name, but they were using parasails to tow their surfboards along the beach. It looked fun, but I do think that the water was a bit cold.