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So how do you know you are officially old and retired?  You arise at 6:30 to welcome the day,you are the first ones at breakfast to savor your cafe and croissant then you set off across the Provence landscape, taking a few wrong turns but eventually arriving in Arles via St Remy wondering of you may have made a mistake by not hiring a guide to do the driving that should have taken an hour by all accounts but took you two. 

 You wonder the streets of this work-a-day town and stumble upon the birthplace of Notradamus to discover he was Jewish???? How did we not know that???

 The day was magnificent and thanks to Rick Steve's (my personal hero of walking tours and some restaurants),  We ended up at the 'casual bistro' of the best chef in Arles, Jean luc Rabanel. OK I again digress to FB (food blogging, please note and keep track of my abbreviation , FB) because it was an incredible lunch. I had a Half of a grilled HOMARD (ok if you don't speak French or regularly visit French restaurants that is Lobster, but here it is Blue lobster) , served in a sizzling pan with onions, peppers and roasted garlic accompanied by a wonderful glass of red. Sound good? Well wait until you hear what Steve had. Tuna tartare served with four sauce accompaniments, but wait, we are in France so that is not nearly decadent enough.....you must order the add on of grilled foie gras on a bed of basil pesto for a extra 5 Euro as how else can you have another $100 lunch?  I never imagined what pesto did for foie GRAS but if you have a chance to taste it, do not pass it up.

OK so back to how you know you are retired as I do like to come full circle. How do you balance that rich (fat and $)lunch? You stop at the super marche and buy a .38 Euro (yes that is about 50 cents) baguette, a 50 cent locally grown tomato and a wonderful package of  citron and aneth smoked salmon (2 Euro) and drive back through Le Baux, head out to the lovely "piscine" to open the bottle of white you bought the day before, finish the entire bottle by 8pm and then sit on the terrace and have your little picnic not caring if you day is done by 9pm with the writing of your blog entry.

 BON APETIT !!!

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