Today I got up early and walked to the closest boulangerie to get bread for breakfast. I bought a pave au lin and tried it toasted with orange marmalade. Pretty good.
After breakfast, I checked the weather which was reported to be good all day. Given the change in the weather, I decided to take another long bike ride. I chose the mountainous coastal road to Collioure and enjoyed the winding elevated views over the beautiful sapphire blue coast. When I descended into Collioure I locked the bicycle and walked around to explore parts of the town I hadn't seen on my first pass. The downtown buildings are all huddled close together and are too narrow for cars or much sunlight. Walking from alley to alley I found a lot of restaurants, and expensive boutiques of what I guess I would call designer goods with an artisanal facade. There was a custom soap, cosmetics and linens shop and an expensive leather goods store and
then pottery and an art gallery- that kind of thing. It seemed like the kind of place that wealthier middle aged or retired couples without children might prefer. The place definitely has some natural charm but I prefer Argeles, which to me is more modest and maybe more authentic.
I eventually got tired of looking at expensive home goods and took the mountain coastal road back to Argeles. When I got back I found out that we were going to have dinner guests. One of the neighboring houses on our street is owned by a Swiss couple and my father decided to invite them for dinner. He told me that they both teach music and that the wife, Suzane recently finished her first book. He also mentioned that they both spoke English.
They arrived at 8 and after an aperitif and some small talk we settled down for another little feast. The first course was seafood crepes with shrimp and scallops and some kind of deliciously salty creme sauce. For the main dish, along with a local red wine we ate braised pork chops with a seasoned sesame seed spinach and crisp potato croquettes. Cheeses followed and then we retreated upstairs to the TV room to recline a bit before having dessert and champagne. The first dessert was an apple raspberry tart which was small and light considering all the other food.
The second dessert was a creme de framboise with marscapone and hazelnut cake and it was completely delicious. We stayed on the couches talking for another hour or so and then by midnight we were all clearly fading from the alcohol and sugar so we said "Bonne nuit" and went
to bed. Normally I would include more about the Swiss couple but the alcohol left most of the conversation hazy in my memory the following day.
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