After dark yesterday, in Arles, France, we stumbled around looking for a late-opening place to eat dinner. Our travel day had gone more slowly than planned, and we were only just getting to dinner at about 10:30 pm.
The first place we tried (that looked like it could handle our odd collection of food issues), was already shutting down for the night. The lady there mumbled something about down that “street” and then the next turn …something like that…
So, we wandered off, hungry (down a “road” fit for a bicycle and nothing more yet used frequently by speeding cars that barely fit between the curbs), wondering what we would do if we couldn’t find anything open.
To our surprise, we rounded a corner and suddenly found ourselves in a bustling square surrounded by restaurants and cafes! Relieved, we scanned a few menus, rounded another corner to look at a few more, and then I looked up.
Bam!
Suddenly I was standing in the middle of the very print that had hung on my bedroom wall for years! I just stopped and stared.
“Surreal” is the word that comes to mind.
Finding myself in the middle of a Speed Racer episode, back when I was four or five and it was my very most favourite cartoon, might have topped that moment, but even that’s not a certainty.
It was THAT cool.
Do you recognize this scene? Can you name the painter? Do you know the painting I’m referring to?
Oh, and I had herbed lamb with mushroom rice and sautéed veggies, while Jeff had a still-mooing steak with French fries and different veggies. It was good, the wine was great, and it only cost 54€!
All’s well that ends well.
(Credit for this post goes to Jeff, who said I should definitely put a challenge out to you all to see who can get it.)