Tarascon

The next day was All Saints’ Day - a big deal over here; in fact, everything was closed for the holiday. Well, on our quest to find Roman ruins in Provence, not a difficult task in this region, we found ourselves on narrow, winding tree-lined roads with quaint views of village after village. At one point in the car in all our efforts to decode the road map, I mention that we should take the road that goes toward a small village called Tarascon. Immediately, Sydney exclaims, "Did you say Tarascon?!" She then very excitedly opens her book entitled How to Keep and Raise a Dragon. "Here it is!" she exclaims. She then shows me on page 48 about this dragon called Tarasque that lives in Tarascon - the only dragon in all of France. By now the kids are beyond excitement and all memories of a dull and lackluster Halloween have completely vanished. Sydney and Quintin discuss amongst themselves where and how they can find this dragon and possibly take some dragon eggs to back to New York. In my effort to curb what I foresee as more disappointment than ever, I tell them that it will nearly be impossible to find a dragon today. As we drive into town, we ask a local passerby for a street called Rue du St. Martha, as per Sydney’s instructions. By now, the excitement in the car is too much to handle and all I can think of is the inevitable disappointment looming ahead since you know....there’s no such thing as....dragons! Soon after the man gives us instructions in French which of course we can’t understand and we go our way. Guessing at which way to go, Quintin then tells us to make a left turn, which we do. The street becomes another typical narrow cobblestone road which transports us back in time. Well, wouldn’t you know it? We are on Rue du St. Martha! And right smack dab in front of us behind glass is, you guessed it, the Tarasque Dragon! You think they saw Santa Claus or something! To say the least, the kids were thrilled at finding something so real and so important! As far as Larry, grandpa hey-hey, and me: our jaws made a beeline south and could not be picked up for some time. Astonishingly, this dragon was everywhere you turned; and before leaving town, we saw a stone statue of it in front of a magnificent medieval castle once ruled by King Rene. Legend states that this Tarasque dragon lived in a cavern under the castle and it menaced the town maidens. St. Martha bravely confronted the dragon and it died.
Lesson learned: Don’t doubt the word of the 10-year-old girl who has found over 40 four-leaf-clovers.