Birthday reflections

On a cloudless day, a wonderful few hours spent on the beach and around the harbour at Mèze, seeing flamingos in the distance across the water, taking a lot of photos, as did LoJ, and enjoying lunch on a restaurant terrace facing the water, seeking shade for our table in the heat. Pain de pecheur, tomato, garlic, herbs, spices, peppers and anchovies on rustic bread, as a tapa that went on into the main meal, rouget (red mullet) salad for me, carpaccio of tuna for LoJ, and then we both had a platter of shellfish, grilled and kept hot on a burner at our table: mussels with breadcrumbs and garlic, clams similarly cooked, mussels with Roquefort, gambas (large prawns), and oysters grilled with leeks and cheese. A bottle of rosé from nearby Abbaye de Valmagne, chocolat liègeois for dessert and finally with our coffee a complimentary glass of marc de muscat - a spirit made from the must of the sweet wine made at Frontignan. Quite a birthday celebration! I reflected on how lucky I am.

Home for a siesta. We pondered going to Roujan tonight to see the Danish film La Chasse (The Hunt) but decided it didn't sound as though it would fit the mood of the day.