French Time and Narbonne

We have found that the French have their own way of living their day to day lives. Lunch begins at 12 and may or may not end at 2. If a business is a sole owner - it is closed sometimes until 4. A restaurant that serves dinner does not open until 7 pm. The French eat late. Schools close on Wed and some businesses are closed that day as well. Museums are open in the morning then close from 12 to 2 then open again until 6. That is if they are open at all. After 1 Oct many museums, digs and displays are closed for the season or have very limited hours. Those that are open, may be closed on Monday, Wed or Sunday. From the perspective of a clock oriented westerner we are sometimes just baffled. There is no logic. And do they care? Of course not! That's just the way it is. The Midi group headed into town to check out the museums etc. And true to fashion they were closed on Tuesday! Go figure!!!!

 

They love their little puppies (we call them 'poopies' because they leave reminders everywhere).

After a long day of mastering 9 locks on the Canal de la Robine we arrived at the bustling town of Narbonne. The canal runs right through the centre of town and it even runs beneath some of its older buildings. There is an old palace (Palais des Archeveques - Palace of the Archbishop) at the heart of the city.

Adjacent to the palace is the Cathedrale St-Just. Beautiful stained glass windows are about 4 - 6 stories off the ground and the building itself is about 10 stories tall. One wonders how they could build something that huge! They surrounded their cathedrals with fierce animals carved out of masonry. The years have eroded the finer details but you can still see the shapes.

Cathedral St-Just

The group (Simone, Trudi, Lesley and David) headed to the Market and the laundromat. Bruce and I are watching the boat after a brief tour of the castle and cathedral. Tomorrow (Wed) we head back towards le Somail on the Canal de la Robine and the nine locks.

 

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