It has been unseasonably cold and rainy for the last 3-4 days. The highs were in the 40s/lows 50s (6-12) and rainy and overcast. This has meant that I really have not done much outside over the last days. I did go out Thursday and Friday but today except for dinner I stayed in and read.

I, also, got my trip to Andorra organized. I am heading there next weekend. The impetus of the trip is to watch my friend, Marc, run a trail marathon. Marc is from Andorra and is running the trail marathon there. I have wanted to go to Andorra since I started coming to Toulouse but really never had a good excuse and was lazy about arranging the trip. The marathon motivated me to go.

Andorra is a very small country in the Pyrenees situated between France and Spain. It has an odd government structure as there are co-rulers It is ruled by the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the President of France. It is the 17th smallest country in the world. It is not part of the European Union but because of its situation, it has special status and uses the Euro as currency. The main economic activity is tourism. It is a large ski area. The only way to get to Andorra is by bus so it should be a scenic trip.

I did learn something when organizing the trip and glad I figured it out early. I was booking a hotel and thought I was on the Hotel’s website. In reality, I was on a general booking site. I booked the room and when I got the receipt I saw a booking fee that was almost 25% of the total bill. I thought this was odd so redid my search and found the actual hotel’s website. When I booked using the hotel site, the rooms were half of what the other site charged and there was no booking fee. Luckily, I could cancel the other booking so I saved myself two-thirds on what the orignal booking site charged me. I have learned my lesson to be sure to pay better attention to the site I use for booking. It all worked out so I am good with the trip.

I had dinner at a new restaurant tonight. It is called Aux Pieds sur la Table which means feet under the table. I had seen it before and understood the food was good so had wanted to try it. The choice was good.

The restaurant is farm to table and very creative. It is a formule concept where you can get an appetizer, entree and dessert for a set price. There are only two options for appetizers and desserts and there were three entrees. The menu changes daily.

I opted for the for hummus with cumin and pickled beets with various herbs and spices. The dish was beautiful as it has edible flowers on it. The hummus was great as well.

For the main course, I ordered the duck with mashed potatoes and grilled leeks. The sauce for the duck had anchovies and olives in it. It has a nice salty taste. There were also sesame seeds. I really enjoyed the sauce as well as the rest. Leeks are a huge staple here in France. I do not think I have been to a restaurant where they were not served in sure form – braised, roasted, puréed or otherwise.

The dessert was the most interesting. It was sorrel ice cream. I do not think I have ever had a savory ice cream that was this good. It was served on chocolate purée with some soft cheese. There were hard crunchy balls as well. It had pastry drizzled with caramel and sorrel leaves for garnish. It was truly delicious!

I will never be a good blogger or influencer – not that I am trying to be an influencer as I always forget to take a picture before I start eating. A perfect example is they served an amusée bouche of roasted white asparagus over zucchini purée and I ate some before I took the picture as you can see below.

I had a glass of crémant to start the dinner and then choose their wine of the evening for dinner. The wine of the evening a red blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre and the server told me it was great with the duck. A picture of the crémant but did not have a picture of the red.

I am happy that I have branched out my restaurants over the last couple of weeks. I like all the restaurants I go to to on a regular basis but both Faire Sens (two weeks ago) and Aux Pieds sur la Table have been fantastic and I am glad that I found both of them.