An Unexpected Day Out

Yesterday, it was MG's birthday, I was downstairs making cups of tea when he called out, "Get ready, we are going to Pau, for lunch".  I was amazed, as MG started his own business last year and it has been almost impossible to winkle him out of his office since.

Oh joy, finally, I get to slough off my fleece and wellies.  Hair washed and blow dried, make up on, sophisticated outfit on, heels on, grab handbag, camera and keys, ready and off.
 

Pau is about a forty five minute drive from us and it is a smart town, I will write a more in depth post about it at a later date. The main thing is, it has very nice shops and restaurants, which are somewhat lacking in our rural but beautiful corner of the world.

First of all we had lunch at one of our favourite haunts.

  One of the things I love about France is the laissez-faire attitude towards dogs in restaurants and hotels, Crusoe get's to travel with us everywhere we go in France, and often the restaurant staff don't even need to be asked to bring a bowl of water for him, they just do it as a matter of course.

 I have seen dogs in the restaurants at The Crillon and The George V in Paris, this would be unthinkable in the UK with all the health and safety laws.  As you can see Crusoe is extremely well restaurant trained, he usually behaves beautifully and has a knack of making friends with restaurant staff, always paying special attention to the waiter or waitress who is serving us.  Once, when we were staying at a hotel, Crusoe escaped from our room, we looked for him everywhere, he had been spotted by surprised breakfast diners, running through the restaurant, where did he end up, why in the kitchen of course, making friends with the Chef.  Crusoe certainly has his priorities right.  Anyway, I have digressed.

After lunch we went for a stroll.  Pau usually has a number of a certain type of little old lady patrolling the streets, these little old ladies are extremely well coiffed and made up, clad in Chanel suit, matching quilted Chanel handbag, gloves and Ferragamo shoes.  I was longing to spot one of these little old ladies, so I could take a Sartorialist style photo, but alas, there were none to be seen, perhaps it was too cold or maybe they are at their other residences in Paris or the Cote d'Azur.

After our stroll we hit Galleries Lafayette where MG made some birthday purchases. Afterwards we visited a few more shops.

Sadly, I was just about to go into the shop below, after admiring the rather gorgeous dress and shoes in the window, when MG decided he had shopping fatigue and wanted to leave, well, it was his birthday! Maybe I will go back later in the week.

All images apart from lady with Afghan Hound and Coco taken by moi.