Hérault!

I thought that pulling into the good ol' Gare St Roch and stepping on to the platform in a familiar train station would feel so good after being away for two years...  But I had no idea that they were in the process of renovating the whole station.  The old station was completely blocked off since they were working on it, and they had redone the entire second floor.  Cécile was waiting for us in her car and I had no idea which way to go.  Stressful.

Obviously, we found her and had a very pleasant drive to Nezignan l'éveque while catching up and chatting about what we would do for the next couple of days while in the area.  After arriving at her house, the first thing I did was go up to the terrace.  It was raining all around the little village, but we never saw a drop.

Carl and I watched the clouds roll by out on the terrace as Cécile prepared a delicious dinner, and her 4 kids ran around inside the house.

I missed that view.

Cécile's four-year-old, Héloïse (who was in her terrible twos last time I was there) said she remembered me.  She followed me around the entirety our stay, and always asked to sit by me at the table.  My favorite interaction with her this time was when she whispered in my ear that the town you can see very far away is Pézenas and you can see it from the terrace.  She told me that if they lived in a house in Pézenas, she would be able to look very hard and see this house in Nezignan from far away.  But they don't live in Pézenas, she said, and that was a good thing because she liked her house there in Nezignan.

I love this tiny village.

Carl and I took a walk before dinner.  We strolled aimlessly through the winding streets of the old town surrounding an old church and (the remnants of) a small castle until we happene upon a cemetary.  Carl couldn't resist, so we walke amongst the graves and took note of interesting names and graves. 

I hope that I can return to Cécile and Olivier's house soon.  No more than two years between visits.  I promised.