Wednesday May 22, 2019

Studio N1

After our morning pastry and coffee, we check out and make our way to the Carcassonne train station. We have a two hour ride to Nimes which takes us through some nice French countryside. When we arrive in Nimes our apartment owner picks us up at the train station. She had volunteered this when we asked about leaving our packs with her upon our early arrival. Sandrine is very nice and the apartment is not too far from the station. It would have been nice if some of the more distant places had given us rides.

Kitchen

The apartment is cleaned and ready for us, so Sandrine goes over everything, gives us a map, and shows us the way to town center, grocery store, and the local bakery. We ask her what her favorite pastry is and she says religiosa which is like an eclair but two layers and very good. We will keep our eyes open for it. All checked in, we settle a bit and decide to try and find one of our restaurants for lunch. Carol had scoped out Le Chef Rafael, so I map it out and we are out the door about 1215. French restaurants seem to be open for lunch from 1200 to 1400 and then close down until dinner usually around 1900 or 2000. The smaller and popular places can fill up by 1230 so we are hoping we can get a table.

Potatoe Entree

It is about a 15 minute walk and off the tourist track when we walk into Le Chef Rafael and ask for a table for two. We are seated so all is good. We get one 3 course and one two course menu. The entree for us to share are Potatoes Rafael and they sure amazing.

Lunch is Served

We are now excited to see how the rest of the meal tastes. I ordered a Camembert on bread and salad, while Carol gets the Plat du Jour which is grilled sausages. We also get a half liter of red wine because the French red wines have not let us down yet.

Camembert with Pine Nut Ice Cream

My Camembert is melted perfectly and comes with a scoop of ice cream in a glass. I am thinking maybe to cleanse the palette but Chef Rafael says to put it on the Camembert. Wow, is all I have to say. The flavor combo with the ice cream melting is incredible. Carols meal is four different types of local sausages and home made potatoes with a small salad. We share the meal and the flavors. We are pretty sure the sausage noir ( black) is a blood sausage but we try it without asking and it is good. Chef Rafael is a one man show, Chef, waiter, dishwasher, and host. He is very personable and treats everybody well, taking time to explain the dishes, and to check that all is good.

Tatonka and Milk Jam Ice Cream

For dessert, we go with two scoops of home made ice cream. I try Tatonka and one called Milk Jam which Rafael recommends. Carol gets vanilla ( really!!) and pine nut and honey. They are all good but he was right, the milk jam is the best. I ask Rafael how old he is as he looks very young but turns out he is 41 and been open here about four years. He has worked in New York, Switzerland, and France but returned to Nimes where he grew up. We make reservations for lunch on Friday as we really enjoyed the flavors and the reasonable price of the meal. We decide to walk to the train station and verify the bus schedule and location for our trip to the Pont du Gard tomorrow. We find the bus station and look for signs of the bus we will need. There is a ticket machine so I check it out but it does not have routes just prices for one way and return tickets. We look around some more and I go in and ask a train lady about the Edgard bus. She says out to the right. We do not see any ticket place that way but do find what could be the stop for the bus we want. We then see a sign with the bus company symbol on a building across the street so we go in there and up an elevator to the company offices. They are surprised to see us but a lady talks to a young man in French and he says to follow him. Back down the elevator and into the street, he leads us and then points to where the Edgard office is. Very nice, Merci. We walk in and the girl says she does not speak English then proceeds to give us a schedule, show us the times and when I ask if I can buy the tickets, answers in perfect English that we buy them on the bus and they are 3.10 Euros each round trip, 6.20 for both. This whole ordeal took us a half hour but it is better than trying to figure it out in the morning. We are close to our place so we return to regroup before heading back out.

Nimes Arena

We walk into the old town by the Roman Arena and go into a museum across the street. Sandrine told us you can go to the roof of the museum for free and get nice views, so we check it out. We can see the Tour Magne (tour is tower) on a hill in the distance, several churches and spires, and of course a nice view of the arena. The arena is still being used, but for concerts, not gladiators. We stroll around, getting familiar with Nimes, and check out the Notre Dame church along the way. It is more interesting outside than in.

Church of St Baudile

We continue along and find the church of St Baudile. It is has a nice twin spired exterior. Inside, it has beautiful stained glass windows behind the altar which depict the twelve apostles with Jesus above them. There is also a side chapel dedicated to the martyrdom of St Baudile. As we exit, we notice that the floor of the church has some nice mosaics. Across the street is the remains of the Grand Temple from the days of the Emperor Augustus.

Charlie Cooked, Carol is Happy

On the way home, we stop at the store and buy some pasta, cheese, wine, and beer for tonight’s dinner and happy hour. A baguette is bought as well. We unload the booty in our studio apartment and then walk two blocks to a bakery that Sandrine had told us about. We discover the religiosa pastry so we buy one and then a green pastry with fruits to hav as our dessert. The baker is happy to try and explain what is in them even though her English is not very good.

Incredibly Tasty

We return back to the studio and relax until it is time for dinner. I volunteer to cook and we have pasta with pesto with French bread and wine. It is a very nice meal and we really like this studio and what we have seen of Nimes so far.

Expenses
Train from Carcassonne to Nimes 20E
Studio N1 59E
Lunch at Le Chef Raphael 29.40E
Dinner, Wine, Beer, Cheese, Pasta from market 19.17E
Bread .95E Cash
Pastries from Bakery 4.80E Cash
Walked 6 Miles