Looking back there were plenty of clues. The streets were very quiet when I strolled to the boulangerie to pick up bread for breakfast. In fact the boulangerie was the only shop open. But then the garbage was picked up as scheduled. Something that would never happen on a holiday at home. There was no traffic driving to the golf course. Somehow that didn’t make us suspicious. We were taking a new route on back roads through small towns, vineyards and other fields of crops. The golf course was really busy for a Monday, lots of families, but seemed to quiet down some on the back nine. Still not a clue.
Not until we arrived at the supermarket driving back from golf. Closed? Why would the supermarket be closed on a Monday? Then the second supermarket was closed. Only then did we go back through the clues and realize that it was indeed a holiday, the Monday after Pentecost. Thankfully we had plenty of leftovers for supper, taureau stew, rabbit cooked in wine, Camargue red rice and of course plenty of wine. We didn’t really need to cook more food, just kick back, enjoy the thunderstorm and our leftovers.
Golf Club of Nîmes Campagne
Similar to La Grande Motte in that it is a walkable course in good condition with grand old trees in a pretty setting. The front nine is quite tight with many tree-lined narrow fairways, but the back nine opens up both in the width of the fairway and the fact that many people seem to play only nine.
The experience of the crowded, narrow front nine, waiting on other groups and wasting time looking for balls in the tree roots, turned into a pleasant day of having the course to ourselves and hitting the fairways on the back nine. As the sky started to darken at about the 15th hole we wondered if we would finish before the storm rolled in. At 18 it started to sprinkle, but we were on the road before the heavier rain hit.
For links to all the posts in this series see the Calvisson page.