Lunch in Mèze

At last a day of proper sunshine so I finished some work and then we headed for the sea, well, not quite to the sea but the Bassin de Thau, the salt-water lagoon where the oyster and mussel beds are, and to one of our favourite restaurants on the port in Mèze for lunch. This pile of oyster shells in the industrial shellfish producing area to the east of the town isn't the remains of our lunch because, unusually this time, neither of us ate oysters, although we did have mussels. In the background here are the oyster beds reaching across the water towards Sète on the other side of the lagoon. I'd have loved to spend longer here taking photos of everything, but I felt a bit out of place among men wearing waders, carrying crates of oysters and driving white vans.

It was warm at the quayside, 18 C, and we ate outside in the sun - a reminder of how lucky we are here in winter. We ate tapas - mussels in chilli sauce, artichokes hearts, marinaded sardines and battered squid rings - a main dish of scallops and large prawns with pasta in basil sauce (pistou), and tiramisu for dessert. I had a glass of Picpoul, the white wine from the grape variety grown in this area which goes so well with sea food.