Petanque, bien sur

What an intriguing window I have. Having spent the day at the beach yesterday I came home and looked out to find the town petanque competition in full swing. Oh so gallic - to be playing boule on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the car park.

And of course, a temporary bar had been erected for an obligatory glass of pastis for participants and spectators. C'est pour ca que j'adore les petites villes - that's why I love small towns. No fuss or fanfares, just people doing what they enjoy in simple and practical ways.

Gateau de Shoe

I finally gave in to the pressure of not being able to see properly and went to the hairdresser down the road today. We're having the usual polite conversation (except I'm from Australia and she's from Nancy, in the north east of France. About as far as you can get from Pauillac and still be in France), and she poses the question of food. Do I like the food and wine in France? I resist instinctive urge to say that I have organised my life so that I can come and enjoy France's gastronomical delights on a regular basis and politely answer in the affirmative. Any country that can produce things like this photo has, by definition, won my instant allegiance.

(Yes, what you see is indeed a shoe made from chocolate filled with macarons sitting on a chocolate coated cake. And with a red sole it must be a Christian Louboutin!)

La grande plage - Biarritz

I'm very tempted to stay here in Biarritz. It's a gorgeous Art Deco town on the Atlantic coast near Spain which was in its heyday in the 1920s.

Look out Lucie!

The cheese & wine shop next door to our apartment. The proprietor is a lovely man, despite being somewhat overweight and hairy.
(Bruce says: Look out bear, here comes motor-mouth!}

Gabriel & Lucie, the fabulous bilinguals

Yet another boat - not sure what this one is, but it's a pretty colour!

Biarritz - c'est magnifique!

Gorgeous sunshine in the stylish Art Deco city of Biarritz down on the Atlantic coast. It was in its heyday in the 1920s and we stayed in a grand old hotel from the time. Fabulous Art Deco furniture and fittings that necessitated an olive in my martini.