Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Monday 4 July 2016

A seafood lunch - part 2

The two ladies at the restaurant 'Bistrot de la Mer' killed the time waiting for their cooked lobsters to arrive by talking ... computers! Window 8, Windows 10, Apps, ... they juggled with the words like real IT professionals, although they must both have been well in their eighties. I was flabbergasted and in awe!


Then my lunch came: two baby lemon sole, with chunky French fries, a green salad and a dollop of mayonnaise. With it, I had a small bottle of Sancerre and bottle of fizzy mineral water. The meal was excellent!

Click to enlarge. You can almost smell the still sizzling butter.
On the right, my notepad. I like to take notes when travelling on my own. It kills the time and I rediscover my thoughts afterwards - lol!

But I wasn't the only one enjoying a seafood lunch. Across the road the seagulls were on the look-out for a free meal. As you can see below, the Visserskaai is lined with food stalls selling fish snacks and shrimp salads. The main attraction though are the whelks, cooking in steaming pots of fish and vegetable broth. People stepping out from under the awning are immediately attacked by the waiting scavengers. Their beaks and clawed feet have been known to seriously hurt small children, robbing them from their seafood treat and fries.


 A young woman stirring in a pot of whelks and a seagull taking off.

A seagull waiting for some unsuspecting tourists appearing with their snack lunch.
This vendour must have a resourceful author in his family.
The stall is called 'Visboetiek' = Fish boutique, and the slogan reads:
"Bij Lima is alles prima" = At Lima's place everything is 'prima' = outstanding. 

2 comments:

Taste of France said...

Your lunch looks yummy! And I am impressed that there is sun in Belgium!!! (sorry--I lived there for 6 years, or was it 7, anyway, when I arrived, I got a brochure from some ministry assuring me that there were at least 100 days a year without rain. Which was NOT reassuring. And a colleague had told me to pack only long-sleeved shirts.) All the slams aside, the Belgians know their way around a kitchen. Rain or shine, one eats very well.
BTW, I am very impressed with how well you do in English! I read so many blogs that are littered with errors--by native speakers. Nothing drives me crazy more than it's instead of its. And that's just at the top of a long list. Yet you don't make these ignorant errors. Oh, that I can someday write in French as well as you do in English!!!

ladybird said...

TOF, Yes the lunch was delicious and the sunny weather lasted for 2.5 days. After that the sky became overcast with some sunny spells and a few drops of rain. On the fifth day a stiff wind spoiled the fun. But by then it was time to go home anyway.
P.S. Thank you for the nice compliment :)