Friday December 1, 2023 - Dax
My dining options got a little more varied this week:
In an effort to not eat all of my meals out, I decided to pack a lunch on Wednesday and Thursday (funnily, I'd just received une carte de fidelité from the restaurant close to the office that I've been doing for lunch most days). My kitchen isn't stocked with containers for reheating meals so I opted for a straightforward meal: carrot sticks and a sandwich. To pack my meals, I only needed to find aluminum foil (papier aluminum) to wrap with. And I must say, I make a mean ham and butter sandwich (jambon beurre) though I actually added a little emmental cheese to them too 😆
Dinner on Wednesday with the guys from AIGP was a return to the restaurant El Meson, where we had been last week. This time, we started at the bar where we had access to the full tapas menu: items of note were txistorra sausage, razor clams (les couteaux - literally knives), and duck hearts.
Razor clam / knives - I think we're all on the same page here
Cuisse de canard confit for my main plate - yum!
I was on my own for Thursday night and deiced to try a Reunionaise restaurant. While I'm not tired of Landes and Basque cuisine, I wanted to try mixing things up and try out a different palette. TBH the food was ok, I had picked my dishes at random so maybe I just didn't pick the good ones? The place only has a menu du jour that changes frequently so maybe it's worth at least one more visit during my time here. The restaurant kinda felt like I was at a Caribbean place, which I suppose makes sense (even if France also has a Caribbean presence).
Not food related, but I managed to do a little clothes shopping to expand my wardrobe past the 5 button down shirts I brought. I found a white sweater with blue stripes very reasonably priced and I though "that screams French to me!" So I bought it and wore it to work on Friday. In a testament to man's hubris, my first 10 minutes in the office involved putting a nice streak of coffee from my sternum to belly button...
The first step is admitting you have a drinking problem
I'll close this entry with my Friday soirée. I'd intended to return to Chez Nous where I knew they'd have live music and a good menu; but the bar was full and I didn't feel like taking up a whole table to myself in the small establishment so I popped down the street to another place. Philleas Fogg is a bar that was also going to have live music (albeit at 10PM); but I figured I could settle in for a bite and a drink and catch a few songs before retiring for the evening.
As it
turns out Philleas Fogg's kitchen exclusively serves burgers; fortunately, it's the French interpretation of a burger - in my particular order's case, it involved a juicy porkchop, chorizo, basque goat cheese, and pickled radishes on a brioche bun (not too shabby). At first, I was wondering why all the Frenchies around me were eating their burgers with forks and knives, but I also discovered that my bun wash quickly becoming drenched in juice and opted to dissect what was left of my burger while enjoying frites with ketchup faite maison.
And then after the food was done, these guys came on stage: Legba. I'm fairly certain all their songs were sung in English, but I honestly couldn't be certain. The singer seemed to have drawn inspiration from big hair, stadium rock bands like Styx or Journey cause he sounded very much like them. And contrary to the picture on their flyer, they came on stage rocking all white outfits; which I think worked better for them. There's no way I could have avoided laughing at the singer's over-the-top energy if he was wearing a black biker vest. But overall, I enjoyed their music; some interesting rhythms and riffs!
It was difficult for me to not see the singer as Taika Waititi's Blackbeard
Either the final boss just entered the room or we're about to become a witch free establishment...
Late night stroll mushrooms
On the lawn outside the town hall (la mairie)
The centreville feels a little more festive
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