Religion and Risotto

"There's a restaurant in St. Andre that specializes in risotto," My friend said.

No more was necessary. On Sunday we jumped into neighbours' car and off the four of us went to the next village. This is the village that has the theatre festival each summer, although this year we missed it. Another year perhaps.

We were told to park behind the marie, which we did. K. had never seen the Romanesque church, although I had visited it a couple of years before. It had that musty smell that most 13th century churches have. Its walls were impregnated with centuries of baptisms, marriages and funerals. How many masses can be held in over 700 years...conservatively I would say 75,000. How many priests have swung incense on the alter?

Although the gargoyles have been worn away by wind and rain, the carving over the entrance is still beautiful.



In so many French villages, locals never miss a chance to place flowers. We "suffered" eye strain from the beauty as we walked to the restaurant.

The hostess was welcoming. At the end only one of us had risotto, but my gazpacho whic included blended roast red pepper and apricots were some of the best I ever ate. And we all got to taste the risotto