From 2 Anes to Toulouse

I should start at the beginning, but I need to tell you about something that happened in the middle. The punishing wind, the sweet asses, Millesime Bio and Domaine des 2 Anes behind us we Jenny, Francois (of the selections) and Kate, the lasagna maker and crack sales chick, took the road for the seven -hour drive up north. One hour into it, I saw the Toulouse signs. "Hey! Anthony said there was a great wine bar around here." I quickly scanned my old texts, and sure enough there it was, Le Temps des Vendange. Francois' iPhone GPS guided us through the most visually unusual French city I'd ever been. I'm used to Frenchly white and yellow and bone tinted cities. Limestone cities. Cement cities. But this one could have been Lowell, Massachussets, with its landscape of oxidized red-colored brick buildings. "All the same labels," Jenny whispered to me. At first blush, yes, but then under more careful scrutiny others popped from the shelves. Neither one of use had seen or or ............ and I was delighted to see ... ....a wine Jenny had pointed out to me at the La Remise tasting a few days back, from the barbated, Cafe de la Nouvelle Mairie past owner who turned vigneron. There was also a selection of two vintages of Peyra and a string of vintages of Overnoy. After that I couldn't concentrate on nutrition as I plotted how to cope with my dread of ferrying bottles back to the states. Lunch for non-meat eaters was challenging, but the others had a soothing meal with which to prepare for the next stretch up to Anjou I dug into the butter and a crispy and greasless twist of phyllo encased spinach and chevre and stared at the 1999 Ploussard. ++++..TBC