Walked to our hotel from the train station.
Looked on Google maps like a brief stroll through the town centre but the route actually took us through a light industrial area near the port. C’est la vie.
We weren’t able to check in until 4 pm which is pretty standard over here, so we dropped off our bags and went for lunch. We’re staying in the old town, within the city ramparts, and we chose one of the many restaurants lining a pretty little square. Everything seemed idyllic as we sat there sipping our Loire Valley rose (me) and aperol spritz (him). (I forgot to mention we’ve temporarily lost our travel companion but will meet up again in Belfast next week.)
Simon was a bit put out to have ordered a “bio” aka organic bottle of cider. However it didn’t taste too musty so this wasn’t much of a problem.
Nowhere near as bad as accidentally ordering a plate of whelks and periwinkles as well as a number of little prawns and shrimps that had to be individually peeled.
This was very quickly abandoned and we had to head off to a nearby bakery for a sandwich to assuage the hunger pangs. It seems Google translate had let us down. Simon has vowed to always ask for the English menu from now on. Sad.
We had some more free time before our room was ready so walked around town for a bit. Look at this fabulous swimming pool. The tidal variation is quite large here, I guess the water just gets flushed out by the tides?
We were finally allowed into our room at 4; here is the view from our window.
Note the flag at half mast, presumably for Her Majesty.
