Local

We went out for lunch at Vins de Dagne in Montlaur. I wish there was a bar/restaurant like this in our village. It's a convivial little space where you can drop in for a coffee, a beer, or an apero (French-made single malt whisky available), with possibly a few tapas, or have a substantial meal. It feels like a traditional, timeless place -- these guys spent the entire time we were eating propping up the bar and chatting over a couple of beers. They told us they'd come straight from the Sunday service at the church opposite -- we took this with a pinch of salt.

The menu is meat-heavy and it definitely doesn't do to be a vegetarian (token offering of a vegetarian burger). I had a perfectly char-grilled chunk of Iberian pork and S had Toulouse sausage, both with chips and vegetables. We let the owner Aurélien choose the wine for us again and he came up trumps with a delicious fruity but robust red -- local of course. Not all of his wines are -- he has a list of 180 which includes wines from Croatia, Georgia, and other exotic places. Really impressive in this rustic village in the back of beyond.

By skipping a starter we had room for dessert (extra -- apple cake with salted caramel sauce). Then I left S to cycle home, while I drove back -- narrowly missing a crossing pheasant as I exited the village. I don't think I've ever seen a pheasant here before.

In other news, French Twitter has lit up with a clip of President Macron submitting to a live TV interview with a roomful of neuro-diverse journalists. I'm hardly his biggest fan, but he's really in his element in this type of situation. Subtitled clip here -- it's vanishingly unlikely that a mainstream journalist would have asked him this question and his negotation of it is very funny.