Friday, May 6
Caunes-Minervois

          I have lost track of time: when the young lady in the wine cooperative shop in town wished me and my friends, Judith and Louis, a good weekend, I wondered briefly why.  Perhaps it is a sign of letting go and allowing myself to be absorbed by the atmosphere of this hamlet of 1500, which is quiet and tranquil.

          Not so Rieux, where we go to visit the SPAR gas station, the only one in the area that takes U.S. credit cards, which don't all yet have "chips".  Rieux has one main road that is crammed with cars.  We stop in a bar to have a drink before walking around.  It is empty except for a few young men who don't look as though they do much of anything.  However, the three drinks are cheap: 5.20 Euros for two Paulaners and a rose.  This is the biker bar I'll be visiing when I want a cheap German beer after a long day on the bicycle.