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| When a hit or miss is a hit, lunch at the Auberge Dupuytren, somewhere in France |
So how about the ordinary days among our stand out experiences, so much of an extended stay is also about the quiet times and the gentle passing of time.
Doing the laundry on a rainy afternoon. Making a delicious salad and setting a table with a view. An early morning good cup of coffee from Fred. A good nights sleep. Relishing the fresh air in the mountains. A conversation with a dear friend. A hug from a child and a grandchild. A WhatsApp from family and friends. An end of day swim as the fierceness of the sun decreases. Watching a Red Kite soar above me. Popping into a supermarket for nothing special but toilet paper and coming out with a delicious goats cheese. Ironing clothes. These moments are the holiday.
And it's also about the tough side of being on the road. Transitions days. The packing and unpacking. The scratchiness between us with all the unknowns. The disappointment with poor food choices and expensive awful coffee. The anxiousness of being in traffic and having to navigate the complexity of the highways and byways. Arriving in a different space and having to orientate and make nice. The tiredness that comes with travel and the anxiety of remaining well. The irritation of white goods flummoxing me with their complexity.The pressure of catering and provisioning. These moments are the holiday too.
My way of being is one of planning ahead, researching and I rarely just arrive somewhere. Today was a harsh transition day, from the tranquility of the south of France to the frenetic busyness and traffic of Paris.
I had planned a picnic en route and as lunch time neared we were driving through sheets of rain. So I just picked a village at random, Pierre Buffiere, drove down a quiet street and I noticed that the Auberge was offering a lunch. We walked in hopeful and wishful...
Such a unexpected surprise, behind the rather blank facade of the Auberge the restaurant was buzzing with happy diners. The flustered waitress was barely coping, but we eventually worked out the set three course meal and sat back happily being served layers of simple delicious food.
I cannot remember when last we dined like locals, with a fixed price menu and the plats du jour, a carafe d'eau and baguette on the table. With only one small deviation from the locals, we have our cafe with a splash of milk which is then a noisette.
This meal and a welcoming apartment already set up by Shawni and Craig made for an 'unordinary' day.
