Bad start, family, and the locked room

Yesterday was a really good day - although it didn't start out so well. We had breakfast scheduled at 8:30. It was 7:00am and we were laying in bed enjoying the quiet morning. Ed was checking e-mail on his phone and, at one point, I dozed off for a few minutes. I asked him what time it was and he said 8:00!! I freaked out! No way can I get ready in 30 minutes. I jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Started to put in my contacts, but forget to take my glasses in with me. With the contact lens delicately perched on the tip of my finger, I went into the bedroom to get my glasses. By the time I got back to the sink, the contact was gone! Oh, lovely. Then I spotted it on the floor by the door. As I bent down to pick it up, Ed started to open the door. I yelled "Shut the door!" which, of course, he did as by that time he wanted to keep far away from me. Got my contacts in and decided to start the water in the shower. The shower is one of those hand-held things which was resting on the water faucets. So I decided to get the water to the right temperature while the shower head was resting. I turned the faucets on - first the cold then the hot. Suddenly the handle fell off the faucets, hit the bottom of the shower, and started wiggling around like a snake. Spraying water everywhere including the front of my night gown which now was soaked. Oh boy, I was not a happy camper. But I did manage to get everything done and we had breakfast.

First order of the day was to take our rental car to a mechanic to fix the little gas problem. He had to drain the tank of regular gas, remove the tank and clean it, put in a new gas filter, and then put the whole thng back together. Luckily, because Jean-Claude knows him, the price was very reasonable.


Jean-Claude took us first to the center of Chateaurenard. There we found the house where my grandfather and his family lived for several years. The door he entered to get upstairs. It was a bit emotional for me and my aunt. Here is a photo of the front of the house and one of Aunt Marylou and I by the side door.



Our next stop was Orgon which is the village my grandfather was born in before moving to Chateaurenard. We saw the block of houses where they lived and tried to see the inside of the church. But the priest was an old poop and wouldn't unlock the door for us. We did get to the town hall where they printed copies of his birth certificate for us.


We drove around a bit more then came back to our rooms to rest before dinner. When it was 7:30 and time to go next to Jean-Claude's for dinner, I went to Aunt Marylou's room to get her. I knocked a few times and suddenluy there she was at the door. However, she had misplaced her key and could not get out! The doors lock from both the outside and the inside and you need a key to do it. She was standing at the window in the door like a little prisoner saying, "I can't get out!" Luckily the B&B owner was home and we told her what had happened. She laughed, of course. Next thing I knew I heard two voices in the room! Turns out there is a side entry from the main house to Marylou's rom and the owner went in there. She let my little aunt out and gave her a second key. I was laughing so hard I was crying. When Jean-Claude translated the story to his mother, she started laughing pretty hard too. Oh, Marylou did find the first key this morning.


That was it for day 2. Started and ended with a bang, with a lot of nice stuff in the middle.