Today, Stuart & Christine (Hilda May) returned to port with some disappointing news. It seems that after they had the inspection done on Hilda May for the upcoming sale, the buyers pulled out of the sale on the basis of some very minor superficial problems. It would appear that they may have been looking for any excuse to pull out of the deal, and just grabbed the first chance they got. Even the surveyor was amazed that they were backing out on the basis of his report. Given the substantial costs and inconvenience that Stuart and Christine have incurred in preparing for the sale, I think they are quite entitled to keep the deposit which had already been paid. The sad part for us is that the buyers were Australian, and so they give all Aussies a bad name by their actions. Happily, there are other prospective buyers in the wings for second-hand Piper Barges, so perhaps they will still sell before the start of next season - if not, maybe we’ll get the chance to cruise with them again in 2015.

In the afternoon, we took the pans we got from Gere up to the house to store them safely in the attic for future opportunities. We then headed up the hill from the house for a walk around Moissac. As always, the Virgin Mary had the best view of the town.

As we walked back into town, we noticed a few things that we had seen before, but never paid much attention to, such as the cat finding the warmest place in the window of the bookstore, and the stage on which Pans on Fire played a few weeks ago now being used as a fountain.

Looking up,  we also saw a number of advertising frescos painted on the walls of buildings throughout the town. These paintings are the subject of an exhibition dedicated to “La Pub” (the publicity) currently being held in the town.

Later that evening we went for dinner with Stuart & Christine at La Fromage, a restaurant in town run by local cheese-makers. They only have a limited menu, which changes a couple of times per week, but it was delicious.