Food in Provence (and elsewhere)

The Gastronomicom sommelier had recommended Pézenas and its market as worth a visit so J. and I head there. Finding a parking place is problematic as half the roads seem to be being dug up but we leave the car on a side street just a short walk away. It’s a bit of a weird market with food at either end (or, rather, fruit and veg at one end, fish and meat at the other) with a clothes market in the middle.

Just after arriving at the market we find a stall selling petits pâtés de Pézenas which are, as per the guide book, akin to mince pies, although with a different pastry and a higher pastry-to-filling ratio. Best eaten warm, apparently, but our freshly purchased ones were fine.

After queuing for what seems an inordinate length of time (there’s much muttering in the queue as we’re ordered to make an S to avoid blocking the adjacent stall) we purchase strawberries and then, with way less queuing, some dark purple asparagus. After wandering through the clothes market we find a stall with a leg of mutton. The butcher considers a) mutton a much underappreciated meat and b) the leg as way too much for two but as he is more than willing to cut off two leg chops for us, that’s tonight’s dinner sorted. Back through the clothes market to a café for a pression and café crème where we discuss plans. We decide that, rather than looking round more, we’ll book a hotel for a long weekend in Pézenas so head back to Cap d’Agde to buy wine recommended by friendly person at Vins d’Oc et d’Ailleurs, hunt down some flip flops for J. (found) and look for a parasol with a tilting head (no luck).

Back to the residence for an asparagus lunch where we decide that we should look at spending long weekends in other places—Beziers, Narbonne—as well as Pézenas when J. visits. We just need to know the dates of the second wine outing to make plans and book hotels.