My little corner of the World Wide Web: Further afield

…well, not exactly, per se. Today we have totally bounced back from the journey getting here and felt sufficiently brave to head out and take in a bit more of town. After the usual morning routine, we caught the 9:55 train one stop into town (price 1,30E), with a few things on our mind.

First, we wanted to find the Europcar car rental office located close to the train station, as we wish to rent a car a few times over the next few weeks to “really” go farther afield. Check. It was exactly where the internet told us the office would be.

We then went to one of the best bakeries in town, just an intersection further east) where we selected two croissants (still warm) for immediate consumption, as well as a loaf of bread (looks like a baguette but it’s not a baguette (which has legal ramifications here. A baguette is a certain size and weight, dictated by law)), and a slice of – guess what? My most favourite dessert - a tart Tropizienne (named after the nearby resort of St. Tropez). Tart Tropizienne is a magnificent yeast-based cake which is split, filled with pastry cream (that has been lightened by adding whipped cream) to go with my supper. Paul, of course, remains on his perpetual diet, so he didn’t select anything – but if I get through supper without him eating some of my cake (which makes me mad) it will be a miracle.

This part of town is a real gourmet’s delight, with food, confectionary, bakeries/patisseries, rotisseries, etc all gathered on the Rue de la Republic. As we rounded a bend in the road we were astonished at the smell of oranges – and when we glanced farther ahead we found city workers trimming fruiting orange trees – the oranges falling to the ground and bruising and getting run over by cars. A worker kept trying to rake them to the side of the road but many were getting squashed. I don’t know what species they were, but I couldn’t help but think that more care should have been taken with the fruit and it given to a shelter or the homeless.

We then stopped in a few other shops along the way and picked up a few odds and ends, ending up at home. Although the day started out with strong sunshine (and the pharmacy thermometer said 20 degrees at about 9:45am), they day has turned out solidly overcast (though no rain is apparent), so we have spent the afternoon reading on the patio and listening to the sound of the surf crashing on the shore (which is much reduced after yesterdays tsunami) – punctuated occasionally by a vespa.

Supper will be soon (that chili made yesterday and aging to perfection in the pot), along with Le Diner Presque Parfait (it's a TV show exactly the same as Come Dine With Me Canada). If the weather holds out we’ve agreed to take an evening stroll.

I just hope I get to eat all of my Tropizienne!

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