There’s a chicken coop in the middle of the fifty-two acre winery. The owners believe in natural production and actively encourage various species to grow and thrive among the vines. The chickens eat the bugs and parasites from the grape vines, and they produce amazing eggs. We were encouraged to go get eggs in the morning directly from the Hotel du Poulet. We have yet to eat any eggs, because it is sooo far away…maybe five hundred meters. I can feel your sympathy.

But we did go to the weekly Sunday farmers’ market and bought a ton of food!

Stores tend to close around noon and not open again until 5 pm. I don’t understand how people live here. The winery owner told us that in the summer it gets over 100° F during the day—although it never got above 75° today—and people simply can’t work out in the fields, so they go home. It’s a crazy lifestyle. Kids don’t get out of school until after 5 pm, just when their parents return to work or need to go shopping. If you work in the fields or near your home, returning at midday might work—if you don’t, do you commute twice a day?

We went home and had a very civilized late lunch.

After yesterday’s mosquito battle, we had sworn off the flamingo park, located conveniently in the Camargue, a swampy wetland about 40 kilometers away next to the Mediterranean Sea. But things looked better in the afternoon, and Diane had strongly recommended it. So Christopher convinced me that we should go. But the boys didn’t agree and insisted on staying home. Their loss! Christopher and I went alone, and it was amazing!

Even with a map in English, getting there was a bit challenging. We discovered another castle walled city, à la Carcassonne, called Aigues-Mortes. A glimpse inside the walls looked very commercial—a bit like Disney—but its exterior stone walls seemed quite authentic. But we decided not to go; we were on a mission to go to the Camargue.

Christopher spotted signs for Parc Ornithologique Pont de Gau and we went there rather than wandering the huge area by car. At the entrance, it felt a bit like a zoo, but as we wandered into the park, it was a vast wild wetland area with paths. The birds were completely free to come and go as they pleased. The ruckus these birds make is unbelievable!

Christopher and I used our iPhones to take pictures. Using a “real” camera would have felt a bit like work, even if the photos would have been amazing. I took a lot of video too. I even captured flamingo sex—Christopher deemed it just R-rated due to distance.

When we returned, we told the boys how lame they were for refusing to come. There were no mosquitoes until about 6 pm and then it started to rain a bit. It was too marvelous for the boys to miss, so we might try to go again tomorrow—what wonderful parents we are! I’d also like to stop and check out the walled castle city: we’ll see. Tomorrow we also have a tour of the winery planned and there’s so much food left.

That’s it for now!