The Festival is here!

It's Friday and the town is starting to feel crowded. People are in the outdoor cafes thumbing through the giant catalog and there are young theater folks on every street corner handing out cards and flyers for their shows. There are a total of 110 theater locations in the 'OFF' part of the festival and each of these is showing about 6 different shows, more or less, through the 28th, to give you an idea of how many shows there are. And they start as early as 8.50 am and go thru 10 at night! There are about 30 shows in the 'IN' side of the festival.

Yesterday I retrieved the bike, fixed perfectly, and had a great lunch over by the Palais des Papes (right near where I picked up my 'OFF' discount card this morning) It was at a restaurant called La Fourchette (the Fork) and it was GRAND.

On the table before the meal was a bowl of very smooth tasting black olives accompqnied by 3 mini-biscotti flavored with tomato. I ordered breast of duck (magret de canard) in a curry sauce and zucchini. The diced sauteed vegetable was piled in the center of a perfect square white plate and the rare duck sliced were arranged on it. All was surrounded by a pool of this caramel colored curry sauce thqt hit just the right notes of sweet, hot & curry taste. Oh, there was a small elegant salad frist, and these big flat slices of potato on a separate dish grilled with cheese on them served with the meal. Instead of dessert I chose the tray of 4 cheeses and even the french couple at the next table were envious when it arrived. Same white porcelain; a small mound of bitter greens in the center, red peppercorns, some oil and dark vinegar dancing around the outside and four perfect peices of really smooth tasting cheese. I impressed the waitress by asking 'where do I start?' because you have to eat the mildest one first. She gave me a delightful explanation and repeated the names of the cheeses but of course I can't remember even one! Each was different, each perfect. My neighbor, who had ordered a dessert that turned out to be a veritable WALL of meringue, may have been regretting her choice. The lunch cost me 28 euros. Worth every centime.

Okay gotta go right now--- there is an opening parade I don't want to miss! Bisous!