Heartiness

I'm getting pretty nifty at this beach-walking Petit Travers-Grande Motte malarky. I did the round trip plus 12km there and back walk in two hours. That means the walk took 1 hour because it takes roughly 30mins to get from chez moi to the beach.

It was another lovely day although there were many fewer at the beach than on Thursday. Today, I saw a more varied cross-section of the population. It's well-known that one should avoid the dunes if one does not wish to see what one would rather not see. Today, one of those came and took a good view of the sea in all his naked pot-bellied dangliness as I was walking past. Frankly, I could have done without that particular view. Had he been an Adonis, or sporting god I would have admired and slowed down to appreciate the view all the better, but I was not impressed so averted my eyes whilst putting on a special turbo spurt.

Along with the usual families, couples, people with dogs and keen beans like myself although some of them are jogging where I do a brisk walk, was a group of handicapped adults. You don't often see handicapped people of any description out and about in France. The taboo seems to be well-ingrained in society to keep certain individuals behind doors. I find it shocking, so was pleased to see this particular group enjoying a walk along the beach. I don't know the last time I saw someone in a wheelchair outside a hospital. Odd.

Having had a lovely energetic walk, I came back to make hearty soup. I tried something new today - putting the veggies in hot olive oil in the le Creuset casserole pot and roasting them in the oven until soft, then adding the homemade chicken stock and putting it back in the oven. Normally I do everything on the hob, but decided to live dangerously... today and do it all differently. The veggies I used are carrots, turnips, onions, celery, leek, squash. It's turned out deliciously and will no doubt be even better tomorrow. I'm going to take a pot round to NG for our lunches. Hearty soup and crusty bread with a hunk of cheese - what better lunch is there?