Last minute shopping

... merging into aperos. As is our tradition on New Year's Eve we went to the covered market in Narbonne this morning to shop for dinner. Many, many people had the same idea ... we were elbow to elbow. Clearly some people were all done and had gone into full on holiday mode.

A late afternoon zoom with my sisters, then we knocked up our NYE dinner, a relatively low effort affair. I made some blini (yeast based, no time to crank up the sourdough) and we had them with smoked trout, crème fraîche, and a glass or two of crémant de Limoux bought from the posh wine merchant. Mini beef Wellingtons with duxelles and a wine and mushroom sauce, served with a Côtes du Rhône that we have been saving since M. le Maire gave it to us in August. Mystère participated appropriately in these two courses, but was in a food coma by the time the cheese course came around. After that we were too full to contemplate dessert (bûche de Noël) so we settled for coffee and Turkish delight. Will we stay awake long enough to watch a film and see in the new year? I have my doubts!

Bonne année and Feliz año nuevo to all my blipmates, hoping for peace and harmony in 2024. Here's our evening soundtrack: Walk on By.