Saturday! No work today! I haven’t had a Monday to Friday job in many years. Feels odd. We slept in today, till 6:45 instead of 6:00. Not much longer, really, but it always feels good to just wake up whenever you wake up, instead of to an alarm. We took our time with coffee, breakfast, and showers, and we were still out the door at 8:45. Cathy and I set off uphill toward Notre-Dame de Constance, an ancient church at the top of a mountain. Next to this church is a look out tower with spectacular views all around Bormes-les-Mimosas and surrounding towns and the Mediterranean.   When we reached the beginning of the church trail we noticed some men in bright orange way up in the hills above us, in a couple of spots far away from each other. Cathy thought that maybe they were surveyors. We spotted the lookout tower that we were headed for, it’s very tiny in the photo I included here. We found the sign pointing us to the church and tower, but we weren’t sure where the sign was pointing to. It pointed right, but all we could see on the right was a private driveway. Straight ahead of us was a large dirt road, and, disregarding the sign, we chose that. Up we walked…and walked…and walked (you can see in the photos). We heard bells ringing – small bells, not church bells – and heard dogs barking and heard a man (men?) yelling in French. How quaint, we thought, must be a shepherd with his flock and his dogs. Surely, the bells were on the necks of a bunch of goats. The sound of the bells got closer and closer and we stopped on our path to look for the goats. What?!?! …out of the woods ran four barking dogs, each of them with a bell around it’s neck. They ran down the hill, up the hill, and in circles through the woods. They ignored us completely. On we walked, until we both realized that we were heading away from our goal, and the switchback we expected at any moment never showed up. Deciding we had probably gone the wrong way and should have paid more attention to the sign, we retraced our steps. The views at this height we had already reached were so stunning, that we didn’t mind at all. After we had gone some distance back, one of the men in orange drove up the road behind us in a white pickup truck, but he turned around just before reaching us and drove back the way he had come. We found this puzzling. Did it have anything to do with us? Were we trespassing someplace we didn’t belong? No matter, as we were on our way out. Arriving back at the beginning of the trail and the sign, once again, we now saw a small, rocky path to the right of the right-pointing arrow. How the heck did we miss that? So we began our trek all over again, up and up and up and up and up. The views became increasingly magnificent as we climbed higher and higher – smart Cathy in her hiking boots and not-so-smart Debi in her sandals. Ah, well, that’s what happens when you only pack one carry on bag for a 2 1/2 month trip. All our effort was rewarded when we arrived at the lookout tower. Take-your-breath-away views! See the photos. We kept on hearing the bells, the dogs barking, the men yelling, and then we heard a gun shot! Then another. From our new vantage point we could see the men in orange – they were carrying some serious guns! They were hunting all around us! Well, nothing we could do now, so we took out our art supplies right there on the lookout tower and did a 15 minute art session. Why not? Take a look at the photos of what we created there at the top of the world. Unfortunately, the church was closed, but I took a couple of photos through the barred window that someone had stuck a flower in. How fortuitous. When we had just finished our art session, a man and woman joined us on the look out tower. From London, they have been coming to Le Lavandou every year for 40 years, first as students doing some camping, then with their children, and now they own a house in the town. Very interesting people, they helped us out with some information and tips on what to see and do. We were considering going to Hyeres, but hadn’t decided for certain, and they definitely recommended it. Also, Toulon and St. Tropez, along with some other ideas. And they said that they had passed a hunter on their way up the path who was sitting on a rock off to the side and who, with humour, expressed a desire to simply be done and get on to his pastis. All the while that we were chatting with the London folks, we were watching the hunters and hearing the gunshots and the dogs and wondering what they were hunting for and whether or not it was safe to hike back down. At one point it got quiet, and Cathy and I decided to go ahead and chance it. On our way down, we encountered the same hunter that they had passed, still sitting there. Cathy spoke to him in French, asking him what they were hunting for. The answer was wild boar! He wanted to know what we were doing out in the hot sun and why I was hiking in such ill-suited sandals! After a little friendly chat, we continued our descent. Further on we encountered two more hunters. Cathy asked them if they had had any luck. One of them answered, “50/50.” They had seen a wild boar, but had missed it. Bonne journee, and they were on their way, as were we. We laughed – a simple tourist walk and we could have been charged by an angry, hunted wild boar or shot by a hunter who thought we were one! Safe and sound back in the town, we enjoyed looking back on our adventure. But, I must admit, I was rather nervous while we were in the middle of it. I think Cathy was, too. Back at the apartment by about 11:30, we enjoyed a simple lunch of apple, bread, and cheese. Then Cathy headed out to wander and I went into my bedroom/office to write this blog. I’m finishing this part of it at 2:15. Cathy came in to the apartment just as I was finishing up at 2:15. In her wanderings, she had discovered Parc du Cigalou and found several benches and lots of shade and suggested that we take a walk in this park and find a spot to make some art. We packed up our supplies and out we went. See the photos for a look at the park, our working bench, and the works we made. After that we took our now-familiar-to-us-all walk down the hill to Huit a Huit and the boulangerie, where we bought a couple of grocery items and a baguette. Then we walked back up the hill. Our load was light this time (we have learned our lesson well), and we had our shopping bag, so we each grabbed a handle and climbed. Once home, hot and tired, we whipped together an excellent dinner of wine, salad (rocket, tomatoes, tuna, and celery root in a dressing), bread, butter, cheese. The chocolate is waiting for me to finish this blog post, as is the next bottle of wine. So, you won’t mind if I rush this a bit, will you? I KNEW you wouldn’t mind! Wish you were all here to enjoy this dinner and wine with us!!