To Lascaux and Back...No! Not THAT one!

First I have to tell you about yesterday, because I was lazy last night and chose to watch world news instead of write the blog. Some days are like that....and I had to have a glass of wine and a small bag of potato chips...there, I admitted it! :) I even had 'freezer' meal, so I really have no excuse other than laziness. Yes, the Sausage and Egg Pie was a brilliant thing to freeze, and even better to eat.

We are on the count-down to our final days here. The weather has been patchy in the last couple of days, and this has rather necessitated our staying close to home. You know how much we love supermarket shopping, right? Well, what better thing to do when it is raining, cold and foggy, than go from supermarket to supermarket, just because you can?  Rhetorical question, really!

Monday:
Mondays in France (the country, that is, NOT Paris) are worse than Sundays. Sundays are bad enough, but you can understand nobody being open on a Sunday. Mondays should be normal work days, but this is France, mes amies (my friends).  They don't do anything 'normally' as the rest of the world (The world that *I* know of, that is to say) does it. So, Mondays everything is closed. Almost!

Today was D-Day for moggies....well, W-day, actually...worming day. We hatched a plan.
Elsa had stayed out overnight, and she was at the door when I opened the shutters, and then the back door. She was very affectionate, which turned sour very fast when we caught her and held her hostage, as we figured out the perfect way to hold the cats so that I could administer their tablet.  Waz held her under his right arm, with hands firmly around the front feet, to foil escape. Not a popular choice, as you can imagine. We are familiar with the pillowcase method and the towel one too, but we find that this current method works well for us...trying to get these large cats into a bag or wrapped, just wasn't going to work.
Tablet was first spit back up, so we tried again, which made us less popular still:) Pill down the hatch, then the flea treatment behind the neck and ears. Out the back door!
That had been successful, so Waz went down to the sous-sol to get the rest of the herd. The back door had been locked and then we closed the kitchen door to keep moggies inside. I put a plate of dry food on the floor to keep some of them busy while we pilled and dabbed each in term before shooting them out the back door. Pill before food was ideal, but you do what you have to.:)
That done, we felt we could have done without the rush of adrenalin before breakfast....so we had a reward:)
....And because it was Monday, we decided to have dessert for breakfast, as you do en France. Well, actually we did this because we had crepes in the fridge that needed to be eaten. I made a syrup with the juice of a whole lemon, a large knob of butter, a tablespoon of brown sugar and a good whollop of Crème de Mure (Blackberry) which we discovered last year in Bretagne. I use a large frying pan to bubble the syrup  ingredients together, but not too thick. I fold the crepes into quarters and place into the syrup, turn them when they are heated, and then place on a warm plate with banana, which really should have been heated, but never mind! And of course a good dollop of Crème Fraiche. Repeat as necessary for more crepes. We had three a piece.

We had some business details to attend to ...yes, life as we know it does go on when we are on 'vacance' as we tell the locals. We are KIND of on vacation, but this is actually hard work.

We realized today that we had hardly been out for our favorite Grand Crème this visit, but then we hadn't really had a good one, so we didn't feel inspired to do so. 

Mid-morning we decided we had to 'get out' of the house, so we put on our Monday best clothes (that means we got out of our sweat pants!) and parked in the large parking lot in the middle of the town, and walked down the hill into and around the Medieval Town. Oh look! A book shop. Waz has been trying to find a certain map which we will need in January, but alas, it eluded him yet again.
I wore my new mid-calf length bright blue coat, which I purchased especially for this and the next trips. It is very warm, and it looks pretty flash, if I say so myself. I don't exactly blend in with the locals because I look a bit 'loud' I perceive, but what the heck! Waz refused to take my photo, so you will just have to believe me when I tell you how good I looked:) I should have had my red beret on, but it is sitting on the bed on the boat, right now. Shame! I will bring it over in January, as I have needed a more 'fly' hat to keep me warm, other than the neon orange one, which Waz insists is perfect, because he cant lose me in a crowd. No crowds here at this time of year, hunnybunch! lol.

I needed to go out and record the garden this morning, because it had rained lightly in the late afternoon, and first thing this morning. The ice on the pool cover was almost gone, but the cube of ice Waz threw there two days previously, was still there, though somewhat smaller! WOW!

 I noticed how pretty the reflection of the trees were, on the water.

 Surprisingly the veges had survived the snow AND the ice. They almost look better, to be honest, lol.

Having satisfied my curiosity about the garden in general, my final stop was the lettuces. I had thought they would have ice damage, but Voila! they were ready to be harvested, which I duly did, leaving them in some water in the sink, in order to loosen some of the dirt that was clinging around the outer leaves. I washed, dried and wrapped for the fridge storage when we returned from our town jaunt.

 Almost all of the snow has gone, which means we don't have to be as careful leaving the house. Any flagstones outside are still pretty slippery, however.

 We parked, as I said, almost at the top of the town. I say the TOP because the town goes downhill all the way...literally, not the other way! I had noticed this lovely building before, but not taken the time to photograph it. It appears (from the number of designated parking spots in the parking lot) that it is 6 separate apartments.

 Further down the hill...these cobblestones play havoc with my arthritic feet...I like walking on regular and flat surfaces more than uneven and knobbly...this door is typical of the houses down this skinny street. The sidewalk is also skinny, and Waz observed that you wouldn't want to inadvertently step onto the road, going up or down, as you would get run over, so close to the road, you are.
We are constantly amazed at how little maintenance there is, on homes/barns/buildings in general. Is it because people don't have the money to do that? Good question!

 This is the aforementioned skinny sidewalk. Those front doors open straight onto the sidewalk, and sometimes right onto the road. See the building that juts out onto the road at the top left? There is no sidewalk around there, and the cars come zooming around the blind corner. Beware! The edges of the road are Granite, which plays havoc with your hubcaps if you aren't careful.

 On the way down (or was it up?) I thought to illustrate the weather. As you can see it is foggy and damp. The Mairie and Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) is one of the imposing buildings on the way down the hill. You can still see some snow on rooftops.

 The book store was one of few shops open, today. We had a good look around, especially for newspapers and magazines. Of course this took my attention! The All Blacks Rugby Team are very much revered here in France. The All Blacks are almost our ticket to a conversation. The French tend to be Rugby mad! There was a nice profile of Dan Carter, inside. If you don't know who Dan Carter is, never mind!

 Our hosts had mentioned that there is a new English Tea Shop up a side street. We have seen it often now, as this is the main road we come back into town when we have been tiki-touring. Opposite is the town Bains Douches. Bath house.That is crochet in the main doors! The town hall spire is visible on the right.

 Even though it was 11.30am, we thought to visit Chateau de Gateaux for morning tea...well a cuppa, actually, but the choices of familiar cakes et al, was a little too tempting. Sorry, I didn't take photos, as we got talking to a Canadian lady who has just moved here, and we chatted while we ate.

 They have a hugely extensive menu of all kinds of English things...Mushy peas being the stand-out. Never understood our forebears love of those things. Peas deserve to be treated well, not mashed! heavens! Anyhoo..back to the cakes. Waz chose a very dark looking Carrot cake, and I chose something my mother used to make a lot when we were kids...Coffee walnut cake, with coffee icing with whole walnuts on top. I anticipated this cake greatly...but it was crumbly and dry. I wondered how 'old' it was...as in , how long had it been sitting out in the warm room! Waz's carrot cake with thin cream cheese lime icing didn't please him either. While the cake was moist, he said it didn't have much flavor, and the icing could have done with my heavy hand on the lime and the quantity of frosting. The pot of tea with extra hot water was most welcome, after getting out of the cold, and we did enjoy that. I think (as a baker) that whoever baked the cake (mine) had curdled the creamed butter/sugar mix and eggs. This usually results in a crumbly cake texture, and often somewhat dry.
Moving right along...of course it was lunch time now!

We came home for a lunch of pain cereal, blue cheese, left over lamb (the 3rd meal from that roast) and some other 'stuff' I forget. It wasn't a large meal, as we wanted to get back to our supermarket shopping.  This we did later in the afternoon. It was actually 3.30pm before we finally got ourselves together to go back to Intermarche (inter marshay) and Lidl (leedle), at opposite ends of the town, I might add.
You can imagine my surprise when I spotted this in the supermarket...Saute of Kangaroo! Les Exotiques, is right! I don't know about the 'Irresistible', however. Each to their own. They like eating weird stuff (Matter of opinion, mind you) here en France.

 We were keen to document the Butter Shortage. You may have read all about it? Yes, France appears to have a shortage of butter, as evidenced by the almost empty cold case. I had to wait by the dessert cabinets (shame that, lol) for all the other shoppers to disappear so I could take this photo. I must have looked a little suspicious, hanging out by the desserts...I did manage to make a selection of desserts though, hahahaha!

We thought we had enough food left for the rest of the week, but we had underestimated this, so shopping for top-up food was necessaire! What a shame, ha!

We wanted to purchase some more gifts which were on sale...I cant show you what they are, sillies...they are gifts! Not that I think those who will receive them are actually reading this blog!  My kids have no interest in what their errant mother is doing. If I touch base with them now and then, they are happy....You are WHERE?? yes, you get the idea!

So, shopping successfully completed at Intermarche, we headed to the other side of town...now 4.30pm, and closing in on closing time at the Lidl. There were long lines there, but we took our time thinking about which marzipan we would stock up on...oh, you don't like marzipan? For shame! This marzipan is 'enrobe en chocolate noir'....yes, enrobed (doesn't that sound SO sexy) in dark chocolate, and ...AND it has ganache inside. I should take a photo, but by the time I think to do so, it has all been eaten. Golly!

We finished up there, along with the others...so the line was a loooong one. The French are long tolerant of those who take their time and do strange things in the line. They  think queuing is just what you do. It is, trust me. Cant push on string!

Home we came, took all our warm clothes off, lit the fire, fed the moggies who thought their throats had been cut because we were late home (5pm being their dinner time...ON THE DOT!)...THEN I poured us each a glass of wine, broke out the individual packages of chips, and we sat and watched the news together...along with the moggies who decided that we looked settled enough to plonk themselves on us. Hmmm.
Dinner of previously frozen sausage and egg pie (as mentioned...did I?)  with a small salad of the freshly picked lettuce, and the day was pretty much over. All 6 cats were inside by 10pm, and ready for bed by 10.30. Love it!


Tuesday:
Today dawned clear and with blue sky just above the fog layer, which did take until about 10am to burn off. It didn't freeze last night, but the flagstones outside were wet and a bit slippery still.

The last tray of eggs we had purchased were small...yes, I have large hands, but next time you pick up an egg, see how it fits in your hand.

 They are so small that I decided to poach three eggs each, for breakfast this morning.

We have enjoyed omelettes for breakfast too, but today felt like a poached on toasted Pain Cereal. There was a half tomato added for color and nutrition.

Post breakfast, Waz had some business to do on the computer and needed to use the printer. That's the printer on the right. Scruffles was VERY interested in the paper coming out and insisted on 'helping'..ahem! Here she is helping Waz replug the light in (behind the cat) and taking the printer plug out. She is so curious and quite a character. Waz played 'fetch' with her after this. She is the only cat I know of that will fetch an item and bring it back to you. She is funny to watch. Light as a feather, she delights in getting onto whatever is the highest surface in this house. There are many, and we can find her asleep on some of them.

We needed to go to the Recycling center again. I think we have MORE recycling materials here than in the USA. We found this last year in Brittany, and I think I commented on the fact too.
We weren't the only vehicle there this morning. I had a short conversation with this nice Frenchman, which ended with him wishing us Bon Vacance. Have a good vacation, in other words. He is a local...well, obviously, or he wouldn't by chance be here. As I said the other day, this is almost in the middle of nowhere, and on a side road off of the main road out of town, opposite the large new Intermarche supermarket.

We made yet another visit to the Intermarche, this time for nougat for Waz. He wanted plain white nougat. We found it on sale... Yay! Lots of Christmas goodies available, and nougat is one of those. Fabulous specials on all of them too. They tend not to do a BOGO...or Buy one Get one free, but they will do a buy two and get the second one 50% off. Good enough for us!

We toddled on home, down the lonely farm roads...well, they are unless a car is coming towards you, by chance, and then you have to make a quick decision about how you are going to pull off the road enough for them and you to pass each other, when there is NO shoulder.

Lunch at noon...A box soup of Mushrooms including the popular Cepes, which was divine, and a couple of pieces of Pain Cereal with pate and blue cheese, for good measure.

We had decided to find Lascaux (Lask oh)..yes, THAT one...the One with the fabulous cave paintings that they have made a facsimilie of the drawings in the caves in order to preserve the originals. Per usual, when man gets involved in opening something like the caves up, they destroy them in some way! So they copied the illustrations, and have closed the caves to the public. Good idea. The paintings aren't actually destroyed, just to set the record straight, but they have been damaged.

Back to getting to Lascaux...

We had this discussion prior to leaving the house:
W = Let's go to Lascaux!
M = Ok...it's only about 60 kms from here! easy!
W= Well, I think it is closer than that! Says 36 minutes on the GPS.
M=ooookkaaaay (she says doubtfully). I thought it was further than that. I have seen the signs on the main road.
W = Let's go and find out!
M=//Ok! Lets go!

And GO we did!...to Lascaux....not THAT Lascaux, but THIS Lascaux. We didn't know there were so many Lascaux in this area. We thought that THAT Lascaux was in the Creuse Department, but it appears (in retrospect) that it isn't. BUT, we chose this one, and off we went.

Per usual, we chose to follow the GPS...ha! She of the disembodied British accent we call the Girlfriend, took us a 'back' way. We also chose to go that way because it is WAY more interesting. Non?
Isnt that pretty?
It is also basically a one lane road. All the sharp corners that appeared, I thought I should stay as close to the right side, in case some crazy French farmer (or other who is similarly challenged on main routes) happens around the corner on MY side of the road.
Farms on either side of us, and gorgeous large trees lining the road.

 Hmmmm.....Unnamed Road sounds great, doesn't it? Well, at least we knew it was D18! Yes, it got up to 12C, in this part of the country.

 These secondary roads sure show us parts that we wouldn't see otherwise. We love the 'getting lost' feeling we have when out driving or tiki-touring.

 Yes, Farms everywhere, and these Red Limousin (lim oo sarng) cattle and their calves were a little curious when I stopped mid-road to take their portraits.

 Smarty pants Waz observed that the cattle in these parts are particularly fast, if they can run at 30kph!

 Oh look....another Village! Yes, that is another old church. Aren't they all, in France? I don't think, now that I mention it, that we have EVER seen (other than the cathedral in Brest, Bretagne) a NEW church.

 The red and white striped thing is an electric fence, which they use a lot of in these parts, and elsewhere in France. Cheap fencing, and moveable. Perfect!

Speaking of things NEW...well, this CONTEMPORARY home was quite a surprise, coming around a corner.

 Quelle surprise!

In contrast, we did find ourselves in familiar territory as we went down, down, down to the bottom of a valley and found ourselves in Segur Le Chateau. You might remember this amazing medieval village where we froze our N**s off? With the mill and the guinea hen and chickens on the little island? yes?

I don't know how I had missed the round tower in the foreground, last time. Perhaps I was busy watching the road as we came around sharp corners into the town.

 Too bad the sun was in my eyes. This is a real ruin. 'Ruin' is used with respect, in these parts.

 Through the winding streets on Segur le Chateau, and out the other side, up the winding hills and up to the plateau again. This is the site that greets us! Those are all Apple orchards. We are here in the middle of the famous Limousin Apples Orchards. They are most famous for the Yellow Delicious.

 Here, in these parts there are plenty of Farm Gate sales. This lovely pumpkin display at the farm gate tells us that the Farm of Veyssieres (Vay see airs ) has Direct Sales, Farm products. Fruits, Vegetables and Jams.

 YOU ARE ON La Route de la Pomme du Limousin. "You are on the Route of the Limousin Apple."

 Oh look....a sign post.
At this stage we still don't know that where we are going is NOT THE LASCAUX! We had our suspicions and were having a good chuckle about it, and at the same time curious to find out where and what this particular Lascaux was. Now, these road signs have a pecking order. Usually the largest indicated the most prominent destination. The lesser ones have smaller type face, and you will find several names on the one sign. As you see below, we began to think that Lascaux was going to be VERY important. Well, you would, right? lol..until you look at the small yellow sign at the top. That says D86 E...That small E says it all, we have discovered. I have talked about the E-roads before, I think. D-roads are often civilized by comparison.

 So, we come to these signs. No small E, and which way do we go now? Well, when in doubt, go right, is my favorite mantra:)

 So we went right towards Juillac (zhwee ack). I give Waz the collywobbles when I suddenly stop in the middle of the road, grab the camera and snap a photo. In the meantime, the laptop with the GPS on it, has slid off it's perch and onto the floor. I hear loud sighs coming from the passenger seat. We have a good larf, and carry on down the hill.:)
THIS is Lascaux. Hmmm....Pretty homes along this road, and then...THEN!

 OH LOOK!!! A Church!. Not just ANY church, this one is an 11th century church. It isn't huge, but it is significant. I don't know why, because the congregation omitted to write the details on the outside of the edifice, as most others have done. This must be a poor congregation, therefore? Look at the different sized bells! yes, this is in another valley, as you can perceive, if you look further towards the apple orchards on the opposite side of the valley.

 Follow the church!  This maison maître was directly opposite the church. AND it is for sale. Oh joy!:) We loved the little gnome hatted bread oven on the left, just inside the gate. Such a pretty little (being the operative) place, but it is a LONG way to Pompadour, which is the nearest supermarket place.

 Opposite the house for sale...Not sure why the owners used modern bricks to 'fix' their barns. Doesn't look too nice. However...

 There is another Bread Oven. Looks like this one works still.

 Next house down, this is also a farm building. Perhaps the house is on the far left, and the barn next to it. I think it will be very cold down here in the dark of winter.

 I am fascinated by the buttresses on the side of the façade to hold the wall up. We have seen churches and other large buildings where the walls are leaning out, because the architect didn't put supports in place, like the buttresses.

 The bell on the right has some writing on it, but i cant read it.

 I couldn't decide whether the portal had been replaced, or cleaned. I would like to think the latter.

 Are these the original timber beams that hold the modern roof struts up?

 Waz stayed in the car while I went walking around the old church.
Upwards out of the valley, up more single lane roads, no oncoming traffic fortunately, but plenty of apples and orchards everywhere. We were fascinated to find this orchard no longer looked cared for, and plenty of golden delicious on trees still. The apples are all small, however, so perhaps they are past their best? We aren't impressed with the apples we have bought in the supermarkets so far. They don't appear to be this seasons. They don't have that crispy, juice dripping crunch.

 By this time we sought a Grand Crème, and as Pompadour was the nearest town where we know there is a Tabac and all kinds of restaurants, and this being Tuesday, they will be open! We hope. It is winter, so lots are closed for their vacations. They go to Morrocco, Tahiti and many other French colonies, for their sun filled vacations, apparently.
This is the ramparts and the Stables of the Chateau Pompadour.

 We parked outside La Poste (Post Office) and walked back to this Restaurant. Their menu looked good and outside the norm for such places, and we were sorry that we had eaten already. Ordered the Grand Crème, which happened to be large, hot and not too expensive. Finally!

It was getting on 3pm, now, so time to head home as the light was changing. I had been seeing constant reference to Arnac Pompadour, and knew instinctively that they must be towns almost connected. I was right. Arnac is literally 'just down the hill' from the town of Pompadour. Isn't that view gorgeous?
Yes, we stopped outside the Dead Center (Cemetiere)  and looked down on yet another 11th century church. This one by far the largest we have seen for a while. Fascinated to find that this church was also changed and reorganized by Geoffrey de Pompadour, who also built the Chateau just a couple of Kms up the road and on the top of the hill.

 What a stunning structure. Not only is this so similar to the church in Lascaux...as you can no doubt see but it is made of the same materials. This is significant for a couple of reasons. When we look closely at the rock, hand hewn, that makes up the colossal walls of this structure, they are predominantly made of a sedimentary rock strewn with quartz pebbles. Some of them quite large. See the photo further down. Close inspection was wonderful...lots of iron seams in the glinting (in the sun) rock, and some of the rocks almost looked volcanic.

 The symbols are fascinating, and these have been well cleaned, so they are in quite good shape. I don't know what century these might have been added, or if they were original. Lots of questions, and I cant find the answers yet. More searching required.

 The head stone on top of the statue says 1723. Was the niche already there? Or was the niche made for the statue? Does this answer my other question about the age of the other decoration? Did they decorate these churches in the 11th century? or were they more well, basic?

 The church is the Eglise Saint- Pierre et Saint Perdoux.  It was rebuilt in the 11th century by Gui de Lastours, who tranferred the relics of St Pardoux  to it. In the 15th century, Geoffroy (or roi) de Pompadour made a number of changes to the castle (Chateau de Pompadour) and the church. The church has a choir with three chapels (directly off the choir) a Transept with further chapels and single large Nave. The roof has Gothic ribbed vaults. There are interesting Romanesque carvings: The capitals of the pillars are 12th century and there is a 13th century doorway with statues of St Martial, the Virgin and Child and St Pardoux.
Copied from the front entry information at the church.
I guess this answers SOME of my questions.

 That quartz is larger than my thumb. It is a true wonder that this rock is still standing and supporting this structure, as this looks so gravelly to me. Surely time, wind and rain will have done their darndest to 'weather' the rocks. I guess this is why they looks so pitted?

 The cross in the parking lot looks out over the lovely valley below. Those are trimmed Plane Trees, which must be lovely in summer, in full leaf.

 Looking back up the road which we just drove down, from Pompadour to Arnac.

 Now...Home via the KNOWN way, or the UNKNOWN way? Can you guess?

 Yes, we took D126.
Coming into St Julien le Vendomois (St zhoo lee en  ler  Von doe mwa) we passed the Cemetiere where there was a block and tackle constructed over what we presumed to be an open grave, and of course there was a give away with all the cars lining the narrow road. Someone of note had died in this town, and there was a funeral and burial taking place. That peaked roof in the background is the church, but you had guessed that already!

 Out of respect for the Funeral taking place there, we didn't stop, but this looks like another example of 11th or 12th century architecture. However, the roof structure isn't typical so may have been added some time later.

 Finally! I can illustrate just how rural and skinny these roads are. I had told Waz that I needed a photo of a farmer on tractor coming towards me that I could photograph...voila! Just as we were leaving St Julien. You can see how much I had to pull off the road for him to pass.

 Up hill, down dale, around sharp and not so sharp corners, along ridgelines, into deep valleys.

 I wanted to illustrate something here. As you drive along the main road anywhere, you will see these small signs with names on them (sorry..cant see for the sun on the sign) and they point to often tiny roads, some of which might be muddy at this time of year, but they all look like they lead into the back of beyond....newsflash...They do! We just went down a whole bunch of them today. Oh SO tempting to follow this one too, but I had been given strict instructions by the Navigator to high tail it home...and less of the stopping in the middle of the main road for photos, if you please. Spoil sport!:)

 I DID have to go down here first though. Great big sighs from the passenger seat, but we did find something worth looking at. AND it isn't too far from home. A large fruit and veg store straight from the farm! woot. Too bad we wont be able to use it again. We are leaving town.

 Another sudden stop in the middle of the main road to photograph these...they looked like some of the monoliths we saw in Bretagne, but Waz seemed to think they were put there by man. He may be right. This part of the country is VERY Rocky, so I will reserve judgement on that one.

 Home at 3.30pm. The light was gorgeous, so I accompanied Waz to the mail box to get a photo of the lovely scene that greeted us as we came through the gate, this afternoon.

We had put our shopping bags by the door to the sous-sol stairs, and of course Scruffles had to claim the Lidl bag. I had already tipped her out of the intermarche bag, and she immediately hopped into this one. Stubborn child got tipped out. There was no way she was leaving any other way.

 Waz took a wee nap while I downloaded all the photos from today, and I got some dinner cracking. I fed the cats early today, and they were all outside and having fun in the waning light.
 We had bought some salmon tails at Intermarche. This is Wild Norwegian Salmon. Not a bad price per Kg, at 14.90 euros. I think this is a pretty good price for two for dinner. 5.60.euros.
I like tail pieces and I was going to do this in classic style. Eschalots browned in unsalted butter, followed by skin-side down salmon...crisp the skin, turn over, peel skin off and discard, or crisp further if you like eating it....Add capers, 1/4 cup of white wine and reduce a bit. Add 1/4 cup of liquid cream. Shimmy the pan to mix it all, without using tools to do so. Use a spoon to scoop some of the liquid on top of the salmon, and the capers and eschalots too.  Keep shimmying until the salmon is cooked on the outside, but still pink in the middle. You can tell by slipping a knife down the crease in the middle of the tail piece. If it is undercooked it will be hard, if it is pink, there will be a little bit of resistance, which is what you want.
In the meantime, have your veg almost ready to serve. I steam Broccoli, some new potatoes cut into slices, and the last of the Chou de Bruxelles (brussels sprouts). Keep that pan moving on low heat until you are ready to serve the salmon. The sauce should now be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. More than that, and you need to add a tiny bit of cream to the mix and shimmy until incorporated.

This is one of my favorite ways to cook salmon. The clean steamed veg don't compete in any way, and their fresh taste is lovely. You can add a little butter to them if you desire.

 Look how moist that salmon is. The flavor was perfect! I mopped my plate with the last of the veg, and sat back very satisfied. Nothing quite as nice as wild caught, cold water fish! The half glass of white wine helped it all slip down a treat, and left us feeling very mellow, thank you.

A cup of coffee not so long ago, and Jolly has just come inside to say hello. Holly has been the only one asleep inside up until now. Most unusual. Maybe it's because I fed all the cats early today.

Im off to hold my love's hand on the sofa. He's watching a documentary about Sink Holes.
Night, night. Bon Soiree. A bientot.
Who knows...we may yet get to THE Lascaux. lol. Watch this space.