So, last night I decided to eat in the hotel; I guess the food is not so bad, and there is a tab open so I can book everything to it so easily. Unlike most Brits who stay not just in this hotel, but all hotels, I was determined not to be at the door of the restaurant when it’s doors opened at half seven, but to go down at a continental time and be really hungry.
Which is what I did, I chose some simple French food, and a nice bottle of Bordeaux, and settled down to people watch whilst pretending to read my book. The speciality of the restaurant is seafood, and people were tucking into all sorts of sea creatures, with a variety of odd looking cutlery and tools. I watched one guy munch his way through a small mountain of what could have been fresh cockles or limpets, hooking out the creature with hooked knife, dipping the unfortunate thing in butter and then opening wide and down the hatch. Another guy had just finished a lobster, and there was what looked like a bucket for the discarded parts he had cleaned out.
The waiter brought the bottle over, showed me the label and uncorked it. He poured a small amount in a glass and offered me to try. That first sniff of a decent wine was heady. I say decent, it wasn’t expensive, but tasted as good as it smelt. I think, in hindsight, I should have ordered something in half a bottle, but what the heck, eh? When in France and all that.
As work is drawing to and end over here, there is a distinct party atmosphere, nothing more clear than an impromptu barbeque that was thrown yesterday afternoon; a variety of sausages and chicken kebabs, and sitting out in the bright sunshine was all rather wonderful. And then back to work.
Work is not that taxing here; I can only act on information received and until that comes in there is only so much going over case information one can do. Like now, as yesterday, I wait for mails and news of questions and enquiries I have asked, and time passes.
On the way home yesterday, I went off to take shots of the industrial area near here, all steel and chemical works and railway marshalling yards. The air was thick with sulphur, but made for interesting, at least to me, photographs. I then went to the town centre, to look at the huge church and separate tower that dominate the skyline, at least when there are no wind turbines to compete with. And then along to the town all, Hotel de Ville, more shots, and then a thirst-quenching beer in a small bar on the town square. Not bad, not bad.
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