CHATEAUNEUF DE MAZENC, DAY 3 (6 JULY 2010)

A stroke of luck. After only a few days, I began to wonder why we weren't staying here for the whole 2 weeks we have off. We're realizing this really is pretty much perfect, and the thought of moving around for a week, unpacking and repacking every day or 2 seems less appealing. And good luck – we are able to extend the rental for a second week. Done. Local market day in La Begude de Mazenc, the village that “owns” Chateauneuf. Apparently it is not yet full tourist season. Able to wander through with ease, we found some wonderful cheeses, olives, and fish fresher than I have seen since I was last near an ocean. The fishmonger had cabillaud available. Translated prosaically as “cod,” it has been my favourite French fish for a long time, and seems quite unlike what we call cod back home. I got the barbecue moved up from another tenant’s terrace, and on the second day’s efforts, mastered the “Canadian” charcoal lighter – a piece of stovepipe with draft holes – so I grilled the fish. It is also the season for a kind of pod-bean called “cocos blanches,” that turned out to be delicious cooked up with diced tomato, leeks, garlic, capers and fresh basil. I think my shoulders are beginning to relax…