Day 4

And now I understand the fuss about Grand Case. The plan had been to prepare an offering for the Goddess but, as we shall see, circumstances conspired against that plan and we found ourselves at 7:15pm trusting that we were on the right road into the gourmet capital of the Caribbean. We found the lighted parking lot opposite Calmos and checked with the charming girl running the neighbouring boutique if parking was free or not -- it was -- before wandering down the main drag and checking out all the restaurants. Le Cottage is closed for vacation and renovations, Piazza Pascale is closed on a Wednesday. We walked down the length of the street and heading back we decided on La Villa, where a nice young girl had earlier greeted us to explain the menu. What a choice! A chilled asparagus soup as an amuse bouche, a simple green salad and then Mahi-Mahi with an upside-down sweet potato cake for the Goddess and a lobster-stuffed breast of chicken for me. A half-bottle of a great Sancerre kept us going too. So many different flavours on each plate! We shared a dessert of caramel mouse with macadamia nut ice-cream. The owners, Christophe and Florence, made us very welcome and contributed hugely to a great experience. We will be back.

But that's not how the day was intended to play out. In fact, none of it was. We didn't get up in time for our beach walk but were too early for croissants from L'Orientique, so we had to find some way of filling in time, apart from feeding the cats...

Down to beach. Sleep, sleep, sand , sand, swim, Perch then The Goddess dispatches me back to fetch some Brie and pâté and the remains of the previous night's Fitou for lunch. I have a contract with myself that stipulates that before I can go to The Perch, I have to swim the length of the beach first to earn my reward. Willy must be used to heavy breathing customers because she barely batted an eyelid. The afternoon was spent bobbing along in the shallows, talking to some new acquaintances and making another swim of the beach before I was allowed to take part in Happy Hour with Willy's weapons-grade rum punches.

Around 5:30, we left the beach and headed back to our unit to feed the cats. Tonight's plan was to prepare an offering for The Goddess, in the shape of my tried and trusted Spaghetti Carbonara. I used to make it with cream and it was always pretty heavy. Then I discovered that adding cream was an American addition to the original recipe. So, I just mix up two raw eggs with the Parmesan cheese and and add that to the cooked pasta and pancetta mixture. But not tonight, I didn't. I had lit the burner for the pasta water and started to sharpen the kitchen knife to chop garlic and shallots. Then I saw the burner had gone out. And it wouldn't re-light. Cue a trip to reception and a request to have the propane tank changed, which brought on another change -- of my mind --and now you're where you came in, following us along the bumpy road into Grand Case, wondering where the hell we're going.