Basque fire water

Dinner last night was fab. The company was outstanding, a nice melee of Basque, Parisian, Spanish, Portuguese, English and Scottish, all conducting conversation en francais - I think I conducted myself ok. Even more outstanding was Pascale's cooking, what a dinner...

Appetiser: ham tartlets, mini saucisson in pastry, feta parcels served with rose champagne
Starter: home-made foie gras on toasts served with Monbazillac
Main: slow-roasted monkfsh (in a secret family sauce) on herbed-rice served with two outstanding Bordeaux rouges ('78 and '99)
Dessert: awesome chocolate (dark and milk) grated into cream served parceled in sponge, smattered in a creme anglais, served with Patxaran - a very strong Basque tipple Bruno insisted I try, loved it!

The drive home was interesting, I think that I'll experiment with Patxaran a fair bit going forward, very medicinal. From what I woke up remembering this morning we had agreed/ commited to the following:

1. I am going to play pelota - excellent
2. I am now getting my hair cut at a salon in San Sebastian - excellent
3. Maria is going to play golf - great
4. I cannot compete with Pascale in the kitchen - obvious (she had even made the place settings out of pastry - sickening!)
5. there are more fetes and drinking soirees in this region than anywhere else and I am going to spend the next 12 months sampling them - tough decision
6. Maria wants to build a house like Pascale and Bruno's - scary (fab house but it's huge!)
7. I have to wear my kilt at New Year to enable the younger local ladies to 'experience' the mystery that is a Scotsman - very scary

Basque of the day:- frightened :: beldurturik