Ryan Air direct to Chateau Lasserre

Whooppeee, we've had a fabulous invite to Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse, a restaurant in the Corbieres that His Lordship and I have always wanted to visit. Not only is this the perfect excuse to don some glad rags it's an outing for the "Grand Duchess" whose had constant loving attention all week and draws admiring glances whenever she emerges. I do love looking in the Michelin Guide and recited the entry for our sojourn to His Lordship. "Your'e looking in the 2000 edition" he said, "it's three stars in the 2005 edition". And he was right, of course.

Also down in that region is the small town of Lagrasse described "as officially one of the most beautiful villages in France" A crowd of us converged on La Fargo's one hot sunny August afternoon. 14 of us seated at a long linen covered table under the shade of an enormous kiwi plant. You got the feeling that the fruit was going to drop on you at any time but as our crowd consisted of folks from New York to London they were, quite naturally, extremely happy to take lunch in such civilized surroundings on a hot sultry afternoon. It could have been straight from the pages of one of Peter Mayle's descriptions of a perfect afternoon in the South of France.

I couldn't help "googling" La Fargo as I write this. The description reads as thus : "La Fargo is a very pleasant surprise, friendly, wonderful food, and perfect views". It further adds that the chef is also a distinguished visual artist who exhibits in Paris as well as all over France. And then your eye is drawn to the picture on the website, was it placed there by mistake ? it's a picture of a dirt track amongst a few olive tree's and right at the front a large white board which looks like an eviction notice is nailed into a tree. Am I missing something here ????

This morning a couple I have never met are coming for coffee, apparently they knew "His Lordship" thirty years ago and are coming with a view to renting the apartment whilst they search for a house. Coffee time for me must surely be around 11 o,clock, that is to say when you have done a few jobs and need to sit down to catch your breath. I've now been told they are flying in from Stanstead to Carcassonne on the early flight so they will be wanting more than just a cup of coffee seeing as they must have been up since at least four this morning. Which means I've just time to clear away the debris of the weetabix and make the place look "ship shape".


http://www.chateaulasserre.com