Arles

A few weeks ago, I was with some friends, and the conversation turned towards things in the general region that should be seen/done/visited. My contribution to this, as always, was the flamingos of the Camargue - a good three-plus hour drive to the east of Toulouse, but I think it's worth it to see wild flamingos. I mentioned to one of my friends that maybe G's parents would let us stay with them to allow us to go on a field trip. I asked G, who asked his parents, and after a bit of discussion, a date was set.

food we have consumed

Just a roundup of some of the tasty things we've eaten in January.

CHEZ MARCEL

We've decided that we need to eat out more, and one place we discovered (thanks to a recommendation on Ravelry, and a test run with G's parents a few months ago) is Chez Marcel. They're pretty much a lunch place - open late morning til 8pm most days - and very tasty. It might be our new favorite restaurant. The decor is nice, the plating is quite attractive, the food is usually a little creative and very tasty. The sides tend to be the same on all the dishes, but it's neat to see how they go differently with each main dish.

My appetizer - something with salmon with shrimp on top

G's appetizer - 3 vegetable soup with goose rilletes

My lunch - filet of bream on polenta

G's lunch - pork loin and something else tasty

The "gourmande" that came with the café gourmand. Lemon meringue pie, a chocolate cream thing on a cookie type thing with strawberry, a canelé, and strawberry bits with cookie crumbles and whipped cream

MEAT PIE

I made a meat pie. I added frozen carrots and peas because I could. It was tasty. I'm really becoming a fan of the lard/butter crust I've been playing with lately.

Pie.

Blurry cut pie. It was less blurry in real life.

G's BIRTHDAY

St Aubin's Sunday market has a butcher that sells the most flavorful chicken you have ever tasted. Also, tasty rabbit, duck, and a bit of turkey. We decided to splurge on their pre-made rabbit roasts - one with Italian herbs and one with Chorizo, if I recall. G asked for apple-thingies for dessert; I made mini apple-blueberry pies. With fun shapes cut out for the top. Camille helped with setting the table.

FRIENDS VISIT

At the end of January, we had G's friends L&E with children W&I over for snacks and hanging out and stuff. I may have gone a little crazy. Lemon bars, blueberry muffin-loafcake, Great-Granny's spongecake as cupcakes with frosting, and chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, frosting isn't a thing that the French do, to the point that I apparently kind of blew E's mind with the idea. The kids liked the cookies. The grownups liked the lemon bars. I actually kinda liked all of it.