You know, we never go outandabout during the summer. Our house is a B&B so we're here to look after the every whim of our guests. But in winter, when we're closed, we can go exploring. Last weekend we went to Perpignan, primarily to go to the flea market, but for a for a bit of a look around. No-one was about, the weather was glorious and I had the best paella ever in a wonderful old bistro called Casa Sansa which has been knocking out scrummy food since 1846.Yesterday we toddled off to L'Abbaye de Valmagne with the lovely Alex, Ali and my belle-soeur, Michelle. On the way we passed through Montagnac and spotted a new tram for Montpellier being hauled on a magnificent truck with at least 48 wheels. It dwarfed everything around it and we could only wonder why they hadn't chosen to use the motorway.
On we bobbled in Alex's Noddy-Kangoo to the magnificent Abbaye de Valmagne - an extraordinarily beautiful Gothic and Romanesque wonder in very good repair. Well worth the visit if one reckons that a good part of the rather steep entrance fee (6.70 euros per person even in the depths of winter) goes to its upkeep. I was touched by the presence of an IKEA uplighter in the picture below.
Continuing our jolly jaunt, St Pons de Mauchiens was our next stop. It's not a very inviting name for a very beautiful ancient village. Legend has it that one of the lords of the castle owned a pack of ferocious dogs ("chien" in French) that he let loose at night. One day he arrived home late and the doors to the castle were locked. The dogs did not recognise their master, so savagely attacked his throat and tore him to pieces.
Despite the dodgy story I thought St Pons rather a kind place. Needing to top up on red wine, but being low on funds, we called in at the cave co-operative. A friendly chap filled the foil liner of a BIB (bag-in-box - yes, it's that in French) with 10 litres of perfectly quaffable wine - straight from a petrol-station type nozzle in the wall. He apologised for having to charge us 2 euros for the bag and box on top of the mere 9 euros for the ten litres of wine. Mmm, about 85 pence a litre in UK terms - including the box. Not bad methinks.
Today I'm waiting for the log man. One of two log men. Last week I ordered 3 steres of logs from one of them - a new supplier recommended by our lovely plump butcher, Frank. I'll deliver at the beginning of the week, he promised. That was ten days ago. Meanwhile, after such a long no-show, yesterday I ordered 4 steres (cubic metres) from my usual log man. He rang this morning to say he'd be here in five minutes. That was eight hours ago. The other log man's due tomorrow morning, according to his wife who pleaded with me not to cancel the order. So by the end of the weekend we could have 7 cubic metres or none. We'll see.
Ali's gone off to walk the dogs in the vineyards and find inspiration for her new blog.
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