Can we have a report afterwards please?
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Just glorious! The restaurant Is beautiful - an old grand maison de maitre with big rooms and high ceilings, elaborate ceiling roses, huge mirrors, walls painted in pale colours. It already feels spacious and they had reduced the number per table so that in the room we were in there were three tables just with couples and one table with a family of five and that was it. A larger group were in another room, on their own. We were asked to complete a form which gave our table number/date/dinner with our names and a telephone number, so they could trace us, if needs be. We of course wore masks except when actually seated at the table. Even then, discussing the menu and the wine list it seemed polite to keep our masks on.
Eric Mariottat specialises in the most amazing fusion menus, so flavours from around the world are blended with French cuisine. The menu is limited, but everything is delicious.
The head waitress was wearing a heavy-duty mask, so already rapidly spoken hard to understand French was further muffled by the mask when she was describing the ingredients of the amuse-bouches, so it tended to be an adventure into the unknown! Tiny frothy bowls of soup, crunchy, creamy savoury macaroons, hints of spices from India and Japan.
We both had langoustine for starters, lying on a bed of steamed, baby vegetables with a sauce made from the heads of the langoustines and under the thinnest of tuiles made from sesame seeds.
Then I had a fish I didnāt know - āmaigreā (drum fish or salmon bass) - a firm, white fish flash fried to give a crisp, lightly browned coating, on a bed of cepes and delicate vegetables.
OH had āpigeonneauā - tender, pink, sweet, with couscous and again, the delicious mix of vegetables.
The deserts are amazing - prepared by colour - I had āgreenā. OH had ābrownā, using unexpected ingredients, many of which are vegetables or salads . My āgreenā included a mousse based on watercress, avocado ice cream, sweet hits of tiny, sugared green olives. OHās ābrownā included the most wonderful box with chocolate sides, remove the lid and inside was a creamy, frothy mousse based on cepes.
And it does not end there - more tiny sweet delicacies arrive with the coffee, including a miniature pot of chocolate ganache.
A heavenly evening!
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Sounds so wonderful! Such a long time since Iāve had a meal like thatā¦the desserts are really intriguing trying to imagine what they tasted like.
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That does sound lovely, Sue. A fitting first meal out after so long 
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Would you believe it? Yesterday, as reported above, my partner finally succeeded in removing the last of the shrubs/trees around where the new balcony/terrasse is going and then this morning we had an unexpected phone call from the menuisier asking if he could come to do the preparatory work for the installation this afternoon 
The works have been delayed from the expected original date in April because he got covid and then ther was amassiveshortage of appropriate wood in France, so we were definitely not holding our breath as to when it would happenā¦
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for your husband, before and after pictures if you have them please, once you have finished.
I know what you mean about the lack of wood, getting decking has been a challenge as we are in the middle of doing the second side of the cottage 5x4m and we have had to do a lot of traveling between DIY places to mix and match the decking.
Seemingly the UK is having problems as well.
Iāll see what I can do re pictures - not good with a camera unlike most people on here!
What the menuisier said to us was that there was a general shortage of materials here, which puzzled me re wood as there is a lot grownin France, I thought. I then talked to someone else whose husband works with tree management and she said that the wood from here was now sent to china for whatever is done to it, before coming back and that there was no longer the machinery in France to do the processing. If true, that is an interesting comment on what happens in a global crisis when you source fundamentals from outside the country. (I bit serious for this thread but perhaps countries will now look at doing more āin houseā as it were, so that would bepositive news perhaps!)
We are in the process of replacing our decking around the pool.
Jim went to a sawmill and a friend with a large trailer brought them home for him, saving 140 euros in the process.
Not only has our peregrine falcon finally got a mate, but they have produced two young ones (called eyass apparently)!!
So the reason we have only seen one up to recently was the other one must have been occupied with their nestā¦so then we saw two, and now 4.
Since this is a cheerful news thread I wonāt mention that after just a couple of days the sound of 4 peregrines screeching above our bedroom at 5.30am starts to get less charmingā¦
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We went for our interviews today , in 15 min and back out with only my lack of fingerās on my L hand giving a bit of a problem 
Applied on 1st June, got our appointments on the 4th June and processed today, cards are taking 2-3 weeks at most according to the lady, in 72 Le Mans.
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Congratulations. One of my daughters read philosophy there a few years ago 
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Spot the Aussie! Where is it??
Not only spot the Aussie, spot the Brit !
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The University of Paris 1 PanthƩon-Sorbonne.
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Euro football final tonight, may the better team win 
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Tory if you get Google Lens app you will be able to identify almost any photograph. Once installed it kicks in automatically if you do a long press in any other app on the piccie. Childishly I like to watch the stars zoom around while itās identifying
Thatās a cool idea Iāll have to see if there are any others, dontā use google stuff - not even google play - FAR too much spying for my liking!
They must feel safe as normally they nest very high up on cliff faces etc. or on the top of very tall buildings.
You can see them on Salisbury Cathedral.
We have a 200m cliff above our house!