A glorious sunny day in Pont-Saint-Esprit.

The French poet Frédéric Mistral called Pont-Saint-Esprit "The Golden Gate of Provence". For the tourist, it is ideally situated at the junction of two rivers (the Ardèche and the Rhône), three regions (Languedoc, Provence and Rhône-Alpes) and four counties (Gard, Vaucluse, Drôme and Ardèche). But for the civil servant it is a back-of-beyond place where a free post might be situated only a few miles away but unreachable, belonging to another health or another educational authority. For this reason, and also due to the fact that the population often spotted in town definitely has a very pronounced dodgy Mediterranean air, Pont-Saint-Esprit only ranks as number 8 on my job wishing list, although a mere 15 minutes drive from my future hometown.