London Girls in a French Small Town by Amanda Strid

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Alicia was at the airport, waiting for her friends. They were going on a four daytrip to Pézenas, a small town in the south of France. But first they had to get a flight to Béziers. Where are they? Her friends should be here by now. It’s 6.25am and they agreed to meet at the airport at 6am.   

At 6.35am her friends came running through the doors.  

“We’re so sorry. The train was delayed,” said Elise as she hugs Alicia.  

“No, worries. That’s why we decided to meet at 6, in case there was delays. Let’s go through the security!”  

Since they only had carry-ons, they could walk straight to the security check. Luckily it was almost empty and took only a few minutes.  

“What time does the flight depart?” asked Natalie.  

“It departs at 8.45am, so we have time to have breakfast before we leave,” Alicia answered.

Her friends always relied on her. Alicia was the one that was involuntarily always in charge of their trips. She knew that if she didn’t plan and book everything, they would have no idea of where they were going. The trip might not even get out of the group chat. They would probably just talk about going, without actually book anything.  

“What do we want to eat?” asked Elise.  

“Let’s find a pub or a restaurant?” said Natalie.  

They found a pub and luckily managed to get a table.  

“How do we get from Béziers to Pézenas?” Elise asked.  

“There’s a bus to the center of Pézenas and then we can walk to the house,” Alicia answered. 

“When can we check-in?”  

“As soon as we arrive. I have instructions on where to find the key etc. We can leave our bags and then explore the town and have some lunch,” said Alicia. Why am I the one in charge of everything? Have they not checked anything in advance? 

“Perfect,” said Natalie.  

 *** 

They arrived in Béziers at 12pm local time. They went through the passport control and head to the buses. As they stepped out of the airport warm air hit their faces. As it was May, it had already started to get warm. Even if the weather in London was pretty good, it was nothing compared to the weather in Béziers. 

“We have to get bus 660 from here to Béziers Station and then bus 656 from there to Pézenas” said Alicia as they were trying to find the right bus.  

  *** 

They arrived at the house around 2pm, left the bags, changed clothes and headed out to find someplace to eat.  

They reached a big square. One of the locals told them that there’s a market at the square every Saturday.  

“We have to come here tomorrow!” says Natalie.  

They continued to walk along one of the bigger streets. On the left there was an arch, which looked like it once was a part of a gate to the town. They got a sense that Pézenas was an old town with a rich history. After around 20 minutes they reached a strip full of restaurants.

They picked one and sat down to enjoy the sun. They tried to ask the waitress what today’s special was, but it turned out that she barely spoke English, only French and Spanish. Since they didn’t understand when the waitress tried to explain, they decided to order pizza instead, as they were starving and just wanted food. Alicia knew some French, so she ordered for all of them.  

After the lunch they decided to explore the town a bit more. They find a narrow street that was full of small stores. One of the stores sells locally produced scented hand soap in different sizes and colours.  When they entered the store, it felt like they’re entering a scented rainbow. They looked around the store and decided to come back the next day.  

“What’s that store?” Elise asked.  

“It looks like they sell bracelets, let’s have a look.” said Natalie as she headed to the store.  

They entered the store and were greeted by an elderly couple that owned the store. The store was full of simple ribbons in different colours, with a silver tag on each ribbon. The lady told them that they get their name engraved for free. They decided to make them friendship bracelets, each of them having one of the other’s name engraved on their bracelet. Alicia got a bracelet with Elise’ name on, while Natalie had Alicia’s on her.  When they exited the store, they were thrilled.  

“We should come back here before we leave!” said Alicia. She would like to buy another bracelet for her mum as well.  

Next to the tourism office they found a small candy shop, where they decided to buy the Berlingot, which is a culinary tradition from Pézenas.  

Then they decided to try to find a supermarket to buy breakfast and snacks. When they Googled the nearest supermarket, they realised it would take 20 minutes to walk there. They reached a huge supermarket. It’s one of those that you can get lost in. They bought everything they needed for breakfast, some snacks and ingredients to make dinner, as they decided that they will spend the rest of the day at the house and have a barbecue. The host had told them that there was charcoal in a small storage space at the balcony.  

  *** 

The next day went back to the square to go to the market. It’s the biggest market they’d ever seen. The market was situated along the whole main street, with old stone buildings as back drop. There were locally produced fruit and vegetables, organic meat and fish as well as other kinds of animalistic product, as different types of cheese. There were also clothes, flowers and toys and all kinds of herbs, as basil, parsley and thyme and different kinds of wine and olive oil. Alicia found a beautiful fan was decorated with a picture of Pézenas. She used the fan to cool herself down and it would be a great souvenir to bring back home. They wandered around at the market for about an hour before they decided to buy some fruit to make a fruit salad when they got back to the house. They bought some apples, mangos, a watermelon and a pineapple.  

“It’s so hot, can we go and get ice cream someplace?” asked Elise. They found an ice cream shop called Artisan Glacier Pâtisserie, where they buy ice cream. Alicia realised how nice it was to sit down. They had been walking around the town all day in the heat. Her feet were hurting, and the sun made her feel exhausted.    

“It looks like it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow, let’s go to the beach then. There’s a beach in Agde, which is about half-an-hour away. Besides most stores will be closed tomorrow as it’s Sunday,” said Alicia.  

  *** 

The following day they got the bus to Agde. As soon as they arrived, Natalie ran to the sea while Alicia and Elise were trying to find someplace to sit. They managed to find three sun chairs furthest away from everyone else and Elise joined Natalie. As Alicia watched her friends play in the sea, she couldn’t stop thinking that this has been one of the best trips they’ve been on. 

Written by Amanda C Strid. Published 6 May 2025.

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