Thursday, May 30: Day 38 – Ascension Day

We LOVE our next hotel. It’s charming…

inviting…

and totally French.

Our room is behind those windows.

We arrive on a holiday (of course) and are cautioned that some places may be closed due to Ascension Day. Ascension Day always occurs on a Thursday as it is 40 days after Easter when Christ ascended into heaven. Schools are closed.

The next term that we hear is that things will be busy due to the Pont of Ascension. We start to look for this busy bridge as that is what Pont means. We soon learn that schools also close for Friday to give families a 4 day weekend…a “bridge” so to speak. What does this mean for us? Crowds of families on a quick holiday.

We go to a highly-rated restaurant called Le QG. We had a little trouble finding the front door and accidentally opened the door to the kitchen!! After some embarrassment and no (universal word) from the staff, we backed out and searched for the appropriate door.

I wasn’t terribly hungry and ordered a salad with asparagus, shrimp, and Parmesan. The chef brought it out to me personally.

What happened next was culinary ecstasy, and I found myself saying the quintessential nasal sound of enjoyment…haw, haw, haw.

The asparagus beautifully displayed in criss cross fashion had a diameter of a quarter yet were as tender as new shoots. They were wonderfully sauteed and seasoned. Several of the shrimp hugged small scallops…a bonus of sorts. Words really can’t do it justice as here is a picture from their website.

After dinner, we had a pleasant walk along the Rhone River. With sparkling water and colorful sunsets, I can see why the artist Van Gogh spent 15 months here and painted 300 paintings. (However, this frantic pace may have contributed to the infamous auriclectomy which occurred while living in Arles.)