Baby you can drive my car

Continuing the Beatles theme ... Blipmeet today! Lesley Alsford and I met outside the covered market in Narbonne. It was the Fête de la Musique but we weren't expecting to find a line up of a dozen magnificent vintage 2CVs. We both agreed this was the one we most wanted to drive home. It had matching red and white leather seats and everything. We spent quite a while taking photos from different angles, including one in which you may spot a blipper. 

After wandering round the market we sat down for wine, tapas, and a good chat -- interrupted by the waiter who urgently wanted to know my views on Brexit. He remains the only French person I've met who's spontaneously raised the subject. I told him I was shutting my eyes and crossing my fingers.

After lunch we visited the cathedral (spare blip -- symmetry is a theme today) and then went for a random wander round the old town of Narbonne, enjoying street scenes, reflections, and fine architecture along with the odd pause for refreshment.

While doing this we found a large church which I've often passed but never visited. The Basilica of Saint-Paul-Serge is a strange mixture of Gothic and Romanesque decoration, and the man inside urged us to visit the "crypt" -- which actually turned out to be the remains of a 3rd-4th century Paleo-Christian necropolis, with oddly Egyptian-looking tombstones. One of the good things about visitors is discovering new things in places you've known for years. As we were leaving the guide pointed out an unusual feature of the font -- saved for a future blip! Thanks Lesley for an enjoyable, chilled-out day!

Musicians were warming up in the streets ready for the evening, but I had to leave before they really got going. Later we had our own impromptu late-night Fête de la Musique in the form of Vincent and Gaël getting their guitars and strumming away on the benches below our windows while Ghislaine and I chatted and fed titbits to the local stray cat. It was the first evening this summer that it's been warm enough to sit comfortably outside after dark. As midnight approached, Vincent added bluesy lyrics of his own spontaneous composition, beginning C'est la fête de la musique, on fait chier tout le monde*, and continuing in similar vein while Ghislaine urged him not to make so much  noise.

* It's the Festival of Music, we're pissing everyone off