We left Arles and drove a couple of hours to a sculpture hike. This hike is deep in the countryside near the town of Mayronnes. When we went through cities, we expected to encounter narrow streets. But even the country streets between towns are narrow. They don’t bother to post signs for one-lane bridges — it’s the norm.

Our car GPS had no idea where the hike started, but it knew where the city was. When we got close to the city, we switched to Google Maps on my phone and quickly found the hike. I’m glad we decided to rent a small economy car. A tank of gas costs $50 euro (about $60). We bought the gas at a car dealer. It makes sense to me that when in the countryside, a car dealer would sell cars, auto repairs, and gas. But we were surprised to find that one can also buy wine at the car dealer. I guess this is France.

It was a nice hike, and we saw over 30 statues, all made by local artists. The trail crossed a ridge to give a panoramic view of the town below. But the most interesting thing we saw is an artist working on his latest sculpture. His name is Bozo (pronounced beu-zo). He has done several other statues on this trail.

Our hotel is a special treat. We are staying in the fanciest hotel in Carcassonne, a walled medieval city which has been totally restored. It was very windy and cool last night, and we felt somewhat tired after our hike. We decided to borrow a DVD for the evening and go exploring tomorrow.