One Tree: Parky

On this day a year ago, it was 31C and we were sitting in the garden drinking chilled rosé. Today, I went out to blip at about the same time of day, and if I'd had gloves with me I'd have worn them. My hands were icy cold when I got back, chilled by the wind off the Pyrenees (where ski resorts are having an unexpectedly long season).

At the market this morning, everyone, stallholders and shoppers alike, was grumbling about the weather and saying they'd never known anything like it. After shopping, we decided to have lunch. There followed a rather frustrating and time-consuming tour of our regular restaurants which were fully booked. Except for outside tables which were definitely not on the cards today. We ended up driving all the way to Lagrasse where we tried a relatively new restaurant called La Cocotte Fêlée. We squeezed into the last table and were too late to get the cheaper plat du jour, so it was a bit expensive (menu at 22 euros). But the food was very unusual for this area, French mingled with Asiatic touches -- our main course was guineafowl in a very classic French cider and cream sauce, served with fresh noodles and pak choi glazed with maple syrup. The presentation was rather classy too. It's certainly an interesting option in Lagrasse, so we were glad we'd tried it, and we'll go back.

This is my one tree in its "summer" plumage. I've tried it from different angles, but I always come back to this one!