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The question of what to wear each day is simple. Is it the beige shorts or the red, the white t-shirt or the striped and flip flops or flop flips? After wearing a suit and tie for far too many years, shorts are now the order of the day, and I love it. Jan despairs a little and would like me to dress a little less slovenly but she is also very understanding and is getting used to the new look.
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Sommieres was heaving this morning and Elie tried to cope with the bar on his own. A big mistake. We had to wait ages for our beers and there were far too many tables not drinking. I'd love to take over the waiting on tables (and even gently suggested it) because I reckon I could double his profits, even allowing for all the beer that I would drink. At the moment it's not a very pleasant experience.
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Glyn and Gill very kindly invited us round for aperos this evening, then all seventeen of us headed off to Le Castelas, the relais in Montmirat. How do they do it? A tasty four course meal for 11 euros. Having said that, I'm beginning to suspect a liberal use of msg because my ears were thumping in the middle of the night. Mmnnn, might need to watch that.
Well lordy, lordy. I got three (eat your heart out) Valentines greetings today. One from Jan and two which were delivered mysteriously to my desk, by hand. What's going on? I wonder if she's starting to like me at long last. (Don't hold your breath - Ed.)
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To celebrate, we joined 30 others on a Bryan organised walk through the garrigue between Vic le Fesque and Fontanes. It was tough going in parts but quite amazing in its discovery. Having climb steadily up from V le F we noticed in the distance huge statues of Mary and the Crucifixion. I say huge because they were a long way away and they were big. Who on earth built these things in the heart of the countryside, in the middle of nowhere? Descending a hill we came across a chapel and a tree lined avenue with the stations of the cross. And, bearing in mind that we were in the middle of nowhere it felt a bit spooky. We had arrived at Notre Dame de Prime Combe, a place of pilgrmage since 887. If you want to know more look here. Hope your French is up to scratch!
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Afterwards, a big group of us had lunch at the relais in Montmirat. Lunch with a bunch of wine for 13 euros per head. Excellent.
If you can't read this, click on the image to enlarge it.
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The mood was a little quieter at the market this morning and given that we are all going out to the relais this evening for dinner, everyone decided to take it easy. Having said that we still got stuck into some wine and we all trooped off to buy bits for the pique nique which we ate under the arches. I bought a selection of galettes from the Lebanese stall, Bryan brought bread, wine and hummous and Harold bought some savoury tarts and a huge slab of brie de meaux. A great feast. Not to be outdone, the table of friendly French tourists from Alsace behind us chomped (or rather slurped) their way through a mountain of oysters and other goodies. They made us look like amateurs!
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Eight of us headed off to the relais tonight for dinner. We paid 25 euros per couple for a four course meal with wine. Amazing.
