Saturday morning is the largest of the Aix markets so we had to go. We bought mushrooms, figs, lettuce, cucumber – things to eat. We also bought soap for the bath here at the house since we prefer bars over the liquid soap they use. I bought a couple of scarves. We both bought some Turkish slippers. At Monoprix department store we looked for crackers to have with cheese, tonic to go with gin and sponges for the house. In other words, we were preparing for our stay.

While eating lunch in town we saw a decorated jeep driving through town with men dressed in formal attire. On our way home we came across a wedding at the town hall (l’Hotel de Ville). And we walked by a sushi restaurant that demanded a photo.

When we returned to the house – arms heavy – the door to the kitchen was closed and stuck. We tried and tried to get the knob to turn. The entire mechanism was loose so we would pull and turn, then push and turn. The window to the kitchen was open while we were gone so the wind probably made the door swing shut. We had lots of groceries to put away so I took a plastic bin that was for recycling and put it on the stairs outside the window. Valerie pushed down on it to prevent tipping and I climbed up to the window and into the kitchen. Then I was stuck inside the kitchen. Valerie started handing me produce and I told her to leave the trash bin in case I had to climb back out. But, on further effort I was able to open the door. I then moved a table in a way that would prevent the door ever closing!

Once we had everything put away it was time to clean up and visit Bernadette at Chateau D’ Arnajon. Bernadette is like family to the Pascal family who own the chateau. One of the sons has a partner who taught cooking classes to tourists when Bernadette worked for the Aix tourist office. They became good friends and Bernadette looks after things every year when Marc and Franc go to Greece for vacation. Our Aix hosts had left a chicken stew and we took it to the chateau – pot luck style. Before dinner we had a tour of the grounds which are very impressive since the family does all the work. A vegetable garden full of tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and herbs. A cactus garden with amazingly exotic varieties fish in the pool, and verbena tea.