17 June
We take a trip to Domaine Gardiés (Chemin de Montpins 66600 Espira de l’Agly). We enjoyed one of their white wines in Collioure. The first white we tasted was awful! We thought: Oh no! We’ve made a terrible mistake. But every other wine was fabulous. We were very bad to buy 275€ worth of wine (only 12 bottles in a country where wine is normally cheap!). An English-speaking lady helped us. The drive to the winery was very nice–we’d never been to this area.
Afterwards we counted on the GPS lady to take us to the picturesque village of Castelnou, one of the designated prettiest villages in France.
She failed us but eventually we found our way. We have been to Castelnou at least 3 other times but the last time was probably 6 or 7 years ago. Boy, have things changed! The entire parking area was filled. On our other visits, there were probably less than 15 people in the village. It was a beautiful day so that probably brought out the sight-seers but I think the bigger reason is that this place has been found.
We headed straight to the restaurant we have loved in the past and it was jammed with people. I was sorry at first that we did not get a table on the terrace overlooking the beautiful hillside but I was later glad because the sun was so fierce. There were no umbrellas up because of the wind. We had a table against the building and in no time the building shaded our table.
All the servers spoke English and were incredibly friendly and welcoming. I think they know which side their bread is buttered! Tourism seems to be number one in this little out-of-the-way village. Our lady was great! We started with a refreshing Sangria–perfect for such a hot day. We ordered “tomato bread”: toasted bread slices smeared with a reduced fresh tomato spread (sometimes it’s just the seeds and seed “jelly” from a cut tomato), Iberian ham and Manchego cheese. Wow, that tasted great! The restaurant has a huge, wood-fired grill so I had grilled lamb brochettes and Howard had a mixed grill of lamb, beef, 2 kinds is sausage and pork. Needless to say we hardly finished our meal. As I’ve said before, France does NOT have doggie bags. But Howard said to me: Do you think we could ask her about taking the leftovers home? Our server was so nice, the portions were so large and clearly they were catering to US and British tourists, I was sure she would. And she did without hesitation!
We head home after lunch; it is a 1.5 hour drive.
When we get home I see that Catherine has ask for a light lunch on Thursday. We have been perfecting chicken and dumplings, a uniquely US dish, so that really does not fit into the “light” meal definition. I search around for a main course salad that will fit the bill. Cobb salad! Now that’s truly a California dish! Howard quickly agrees. It will be much easier to prepare and it is practically foolproof.
Tonight we have a thunder storm!! We are novices when it comes to these kinds of storms.