October 31, 2010
Day off in Quillan
WEATHER: SUNNY MORNING, RAIN AFTER LUNCH
After a good breakfast including eggs and freshly baked croissants, we were surprised by the sunshine (rain had been predicted) as we walked downhill through the town of Quillan, pretty buttoned up on a Sunday morning. It was surprisingly picturesque. We walked across the old bridge and then uphill to yet another ruined fort. There were just four walls left on this one, but a large billboard told us that the EU was spending quite a bit of money to partially restore it. Afterwards we walked along the river for about two km, but except for a few gardens, it wasn't terribly interesting. We returned to the downtown to look for a place for lunch and found the Hotel Cartier restaurant on the main street. During our decent lunch, it started to rain heavily. We were glad we weren't cycling and that we had our umbrellas.
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Walking back uphill to the B&B, the wind blew and the rain poured down, and we got quite wet. It was good to spend the afternoon resting and reading and looking out at the rain. Dinner that night was one of the best we had in France. Roy and Silvia really outdid themselves, and we hoped it was worth it for them to go to all that trouble for just two guests.
We started with a salad (including home-pickled whole garlic cloves) accompanied by sauteed shrimp. The main course was duck breast with black cherries--really delicious--with rice, fennel root cooked in cream, and courgettes. Afterwards we had an encore of the four excellent cheeses along with pavlova for Eva and more apple-rhubarb pie for Al. During the meal, Roy and Sylvia told stories about their restaurant in England, filled us in on the recent history of the surrounding area, and gave us unusual recipe suggestions. It was a very pleasant evening and incredibly good value.
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