More Eating Out

17.10.20: JJ's birthday. An apéro at the bar, a really good lunch in the sun at the restaurant after which we retired to Jacques' terrace for cava, more cava and some snacks. Bit by bit folk Nicole, Carmen, Antoine, Sandrine) fell by the wayside leaving only JJ and myself by the time it was cool enough to send us inside. Was nearly 10pm when we went home. For me it was straight to bed.

Weather:22°, sunny

16.10.20: Made it to Perpignan with Francoise for the expo, "Queens of France"

showing paintings from Versailles. There was also another temporary exhibition in contrast featuring local modern artists. Bits of rusty metal and splodges were not my thing. Lunch was no great shakes either. A fast food place where we could sit outside.

Weather: 18°, chilly start, wind lighter, sunny.

15.10.20: Lunch at the restaurant, too cold to be on the terrace.  The computer and tv filled the rest of the day.

Weather: 14° windy

 14.10.20: Lunch chez JJ  with André and Nany, Michèle and Henri. Took advantage of a lift afterwards with the latter to see Briget’s expo. Rather than wait in the cold for a bus, Hortense drove me home after we’d had a cuppa sitting out in front of the bakery. Didn’t even have room for one of their delicious pastries to brighten up the day.

Weather: 15°, cold and miserable. Rain came on late afternoon

13.10.20:

Was going to go to an exhibition in Perpignan today with Françoise but the uncertain weather put us off. Yeah, yeah. I know, we were wimps but you need to understand that the least little bit of rain sends us scurrying indoors! By mid morning the sun was out  so Françoise and I were able to take our coffee out on the terrace of the café.

I'd banked on having lunch out so  it was with pleasure that I accepted Jacques' invitation to join him for a lunch of duck breast and wild mushrooms that had been gathered by our neighbours, Gérard and Anna. I can confirm what you've probably read in articles about rural France; people do hang bags of produce on your door. I found my little bag of mushrooms on Sunday which went into last night's omelette.

Spent the most part of the afternoon actually getting some admin done and all of the evening watching tv. Yes, again.

Weather: 19°, sunshine and showers

11.10.20:

The wind blowing hard woke me up during the night so after losing a bit of sleep, I was surprised that I did my treadmill stint. Well wrapped up, I joined Nicole for a coffee and listened to the local banda. Jacques should have come with us to Martine's for lunch but he cried off. JJ was a last minute replacement for an excellent meal. Battered courgette flowers, mozzarella balls and pesto tomato mini skewers, homemade cheese biscuits and cava got us off to a good start. Smoked salmon, duck, cheese and apple sorbet well doused in calvados followed.

While the other two went off home, Martine and I went to a brass band concert given by musicians of the Toulouse Orchestra.The Gershwin was brilliant and the rest of the programme filled your ears with rich sound.

Weather: 16°, blue sky, strong cold wind