I wasn’t going to write a blog this weekend..honest!! But last week we decided to go to Laval, as our usual Saturday lunch rendezvous was closed for holidays. Ostensibly this trip to Laval was to visit the Aigle shop to purchase a new pair of boots and to try out a recommended supermarket , Grand Frais.

It scarcely goes without saying that visiting a new place requires us to have lunch somewhere. After looking at ratings we decided to try L’Esprit Cuisine . We weren’t disappointed. The service was good, the courses excellent, I even gave the loo’s 9/10. We got pre desserts of a small cup of lime and mint sorbet, with a plastic pipette of rum to squeeze over the top. Delicious!!

We ordered coffees and to go with them were presented with freshly baked biscuits and these :

The small things are Sichuan pepper flowers, which you pop in your mouth and bite into, whereupon a tiny Pepper Fairy will appear and dance around on your tongue wearing spiked ballet shoes. The drinks are not whisky or brandy as you may think,  but Verveine tea with five added spices. Honestly, it was amazing….

The lady assistant in the Aigle shop couldn’t have been more helpful. Charming, efficient and chatty. She even complimented me on my purple socks and was professional enough to ignore the smell to fit and lace up my boots.

Locating the supermarket was a little problematical, despite being next to KFC. I really must turn off the sat nav, instead of ignoring it when it insists on telling me to turn round NOW and getting impatient when he says ‘recalculating route’. Whatever happened to reading maps?…..

Anyway, we are home again….Oh, we are going out for lunch tomorrow…