INTERLUDE

I wonder if anyone watched 'Elizabeth David - a Life in Recipes' last night on BBC2.
I never met her but her friend Doreen - the blonde actress who put her wise to her lover's double dealing - was a close friend until she died a few years ago. Doreen and her husband were bon viveurs and had a great zest for life. They bought a farmhouse in the Dordogne, before it was fashionable to do so, and we would be invited to help them make it habitable and then enjoy the life of the lotus eaters. The food and wine were excellent and there was a lot of hilarity.
Gradually they move further south until they reached Spain.

I remember them fondly because through travels with them I gained the confidence to drive through France both alone and with my son. One unforgetable day Doreen, Colin - her husband - and I were driving through Provence. It was sizzling. the cicadas were deafening and the air was heavy with the scent of thyme and lavender. We had the perfect picnic - fresh bread, cheeses, tomatoes, fruit and wine. All we needed was the perfect spot for our perfect picnic. Feeling euphoric and to pass the time I decided to try out my French which was more dogged then fluent.
'Je serais tres contente si nous trouverons une riverere parceque nous pouvons lever nos mains avant le dejeuner.'
We drove on, occasionally spotting places that weren't quite right. Time passed and the temperature rose both inside and outside the car. Sitting behind them I could see they were both getting quite twitchy. An hour passed and the cheeses were practically crawling round the car. I feared for Doreen's blood pressure until she screamed 'Stop the car!' with a squeal of brakes Colin stopped and as Doreen started a tirade he shouted 'I was looking for a F...... so that Pat could wash her F......hands!'
Ooops!