We had a nice reunion with Richard and Pauline; it had been more than two years since the four of us had cruised around France. Then it was the cold and rain of Brittany in January; now we seemed destined to spend a couple of days exploring south France in the cold and rain of mid-May.
After meeting our hosts Arlett and her husband Jean-Claude, we quickly settled into our new home. Richard and Pauline dropped by a little while later with a bottle of blanquette, the local sparkling wine, and four glasses (which we had to assemble ourselves as it turned out). The four of us chatted about everything and nothing and eventually reached a point where dinner was the next and most pressing thing on our agenda.
Arlett had already suggested to Richard a couple of possibilities, both down the valley, a creperie in nearby Esperaza and the other in Quillon. The four of us packed ourselves into Richard's Citroen and headed down the hill and then west to Esperaza. We found the creperie with little difficulty but wanted to see what Quillon had to offer.
A few minutes later we pulled into a parking slot near La Galerie, Arlett's suggestion. Even though there was a light rain we walked to the nearby Pont Suzanne, a lovely little blue bridge spanning the Aude, itself in something of a turmoil it seemed.
Returning to the restaurant we walked through the door and found ourselves inside a lovely, slightly upscale restaurant, a favorable impression lifted even higher after an evening of friendly service and delicious food. And the fact that our server was able to do this amazing thing with the wine battle capsule:
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| fish and chips |
The food was delicious and after a leisurely evening spent in warm conversation the four of us bid adieu to La Galerie and were immediately struck by how blue the bridge had become. A wonderful introduction to the Languedoc and, weather notwithstanding, a harbinger of things to come.
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