May 13th
Morning wake-up to the aroma of coffee. It’s Tellu’s maintenance day. After a quick breakfast, I climbed into the driver’s seat and off we went following Auli’s sister, Päivi, who guided us to the car service. And it was a good thing she did! Once we arrived, we realized that dealing in French made the process much smoother. The car was left in the care of competent individuals. Then it was our turn to hop into Päivi’s car and head to the neighboring village Cavaillon for the market.
The village market lived up to its name. Stalls and goods of all kinds. True to our habits, we each bought things we felt we needed. I bought roasted almonds and salami sticks for tomorrow’s journey. Eva invested in a new tablecloth for the cottage. Each to their own style!
After the market, we drove back to Auli’s place to Velleron to have lunch with leftovers from the previous days. Feeling a bit exhausted from them, I took a little nap, only to be gently woken up by Eva’s shaking: they announced the car was ready! So, we got up and headed towards Avignon. Thankfully, Päivi drove. I was pretty much asleep for the beginning of the journey.
The repair shop’s cost estimate had been around 980 €. The final bill was 480 €! Not a bad price for a new alternator and battery installed. And once again, we have a reliable car. Off we went, but before hitting the road, we had to take care of dinner for Päivi, who had been chauffeuring us and hosting us for several days. We took her to a neighboring village L’Isle-surla-Sorgue for a really high-quality dinner. I haven’t eaten so well and so many varieties in a while. Even the appetizers were outstanding.
We got back to the Velleron quite late, so it was time to go to bed immediately… except for, of course, taking care of this update before bedtime. Goodnight fellow travelers. Summer is coming to Finland too!