Nice is nice

This morning, we said goodbye to Mary and Norman in Nice.  (Mary & Norman- if you are reading this, we hope that you located your train, made all your connections, and are safely situated at your lodgings ). Zigzagging through the narrow streets gave us a taste of Nice and, nice as it appears to be, we opted not to linger.  We headed back to Arles, taking the motorway almost the whole route.  The only piece of excitement was at the toll gate, where the robot rejected both our credit cards (!) and demanded change (we had none).  There were firm instructions not to leave your car, nor to back up. (Well, then what ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO?) . We had no choice.  Once out of the pickle, we found a gate which accepted bills.  Whew!
Along the route, we saw brilliant fields of red poppies, much like our orange California poppies.  And, there was time for Doug to have a swim in the Mediterranean.
We are back in the same hotel as when we started - but a different room - #5.  There is the faint scent of sewage at this end of the hotel, but my nose is beginning to forget about it.  Otherwise, I really like this B&B. Our room is large and has an enormous fireplace, topped by an elegant and large mirror.  I guess our room was part of a salon in the past.  Well, Life is humbling and now it is just a bedroom in a 2 star hotel.
Tomorrow, we are off to Collioure.  Bon nuit.